The Inadvertent Catalyst
by Truga
Summary: An unsuspecting young woman is about to be thrown into the path of a handful of socially-challenged scientists. Not entirely socially savvy herself, she seems to fit right in. That is, until a romantic relationship is in danger of blooming. OC/Sheldon
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

CHAPTER ONE

~Introducing A New Component ~

Every Wednesday, at five o'clock in the evening, Sheldon Cooper arrived at the Comic Book Store, accompanied by Leonard Hofstadter, Rajesh Koothrappali and Howard Wolowitz. They then browsed through the available comic books for additions for their collections, which they had been accumulating for some number of years.

However, on one particular Wednesday, something was noticeably different. There was an entity present at the store that none of them could have anticipated.

All four men immediately knew that something was off when they went through the door to find that all the regulars, (e.g. Lonely Larry and Captain Sweatpants,) and the store owner, Stuart, were huddled around the countertop at one end of the premises. They were all staring at the entity that stood at the other end of the room.

"Hey, Stuart," Leonard cautiously said as he and his friends came into the store, not yet having looked away from the bizarre actions of the other comic book store goers. "What's going on?"

Without so much as a 'hello', Stuart simply raised his hand and pointed to the entity that had his attention, turning Leonard, Howard, Rajesh, and Sheldon's attention toward it. When they saw the object of interest, all four of them backed up toward the countertop to stand with the other men.

Standing over by the graphic novel section was, surprisingly, a woman. A fairly attractive woman, too. Her chocolate brown hair was long and wavy, sweeping down her back. She was neither tall nor short, standing at an average height. Neither skinny nor fat, she was slender but solidly built. From behind, the guys could see that she was wearing a black short sleeved shirt, black jeans, and black shoes with white soles and laces.

"Who is _that_?" Howard asked, letting his eyes wander over the more interesting areas of the female specimen.

"I dunno," Stuart replied with a shrug. "She came in twenty minutes ago."

"And you've all just been standing here staring at her?" Leonard asked, even though he too was staring.

"It's not like we can just go talk to her," Stuart huffed, glancing away from the woman and looking down at his countertop for a moment. It didn't last, and he was staring the next second.

"Why not?" Leonard crossed his arms over his chest. "Someone should go and say hi."

Nobody moved. In fact, some of the more spooked men backed up further. It wasn't every day a woman, let alone an attractive one came into the comic book store. This particular band of men didn't really have all that much interaction time with the female species.

Sheldon Cooper looked at the men beside him, all of whom were looking almost longingly over at the stranger. "Oh, for heaven's sake," he sighed a sigh of long suffering and headed towards the woman.

"Sheldon!" Howard hissed at him. Clearly he had no idea what he was getting into.

The tall physicist ignored the reprimand and came to stand beside the woman, his hands clasped behind his back. "Excuse me," he quietly interrupted her.

She turned her face to smile up at him, the top of her head just reaching his shoulder height. Her eyes were a bright blue, her face was round, her skin a healthy white. Her brown hair, though wavy at the back, had been straightened at the front, the fringe parted to the left. Her lips, even though stretched in a smile, were slightly pouting, but full and pink. The front of her black shirt had a stomach sized picture of a planet, and in white the word 'Pluto' above it, 'Never Forget' below it.

"Yes?" She drew the word out curiously, her voice mellow and low. Sheldon also noticed a strange tilt to her accent, but it was difficult to tell from the monosyllabic word.

"Hello," Sheldon attempted to smile, mostly succeeding.

The woman turned to face him completely, folding her arms around her stomach. "Hello." Again, she drew the word out, as though she was speaking to a slow child or an easily spooked animal.

"My name is Sheldon Cooper," he introduced himself, holding a hand out.

"Sheldon. That's a brilliant name." Smile broadening, the woman took his hand and shook it once before letting go. "I've never met anyone named Sheldon before. I'm boring ol' common Sarah Peters. I've always wanted a more unique name."

While Sheldon didn't appreciate all the chatter, he had initiated the contact, and so had no option but to continue to display interest, regardless of how he really felt. "Sarah is indeed a common name. However your facial structure and overall appearance tend toward the feminine and softer connotation, which the name portrays competently."

"Thanks. That's the only reason why I haven't changed it," she admitted, tilting her head to one side, her fringe splaying along her forehead as she looked at the physicist with obvious interest.

Sheldon did a small double take. "I'm sorry, you understood what I just said?"

"Of course I did. I'm not as think as you drunk I am." While Sheldon pondered on the meaning of that bizarre sentence, Sarah clasped her hands behind her back to mirror his posture. "You know, you're the first person to voluntarily speak to me since I moved here. I think Americans have difficulty understanding my accent."

"Odd. An Australian accent is by no means difficult to decipher." Sheldon had picked the accent during her first sentence. It was true that some pronunciations didn't sound quite right, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. Besides which her voice was low and held a certain timbre that wasn't irritating, like most women's voices. Her accent only softened her words further in an almost pleasing way.

"Hey, you knew I was Australian. Ten points," Sarah awarded him with a still widening smile. By now she was grinning, revealing that her right incisor was noticeably sharper than average.

"What can I get for ten points?" Sheldon asked, curious. He had never met anyone who had their own points system. Of course he had his 'three strikes, you're out' policy, but this woman seemed to award points for certain actions.

Holding her elbows in her hands now, Sarah's smile lessened a little in shyness. "Dunno. It's probably worth about a hug."

"I don't hug people," Sheldon immediately replied with a shake of his head, before crossing his arms in front of his chest. "And how can you not know? It's your point system, a reward system seems to be implied. If you're going to be handing out points you really should put more thought into it."

"Okay," she nodded resolutely. "In that case, ten points is worth one hug. Or, you could hold onto them and save up for something else."

"I don't hug people," Sheldon repeated with another shake of his head.

By this time, all the men standing around the counter at the other end of the room had relaxed enough to resume their perusing of the store, though they all suddenly were more interested in the items closer to the counter. Sheldon's friends shuffled up behind him, the three of them noting just how pretty the woman was. Howard particularly noticed some of her more feminine assets, which were quite noticeable.

Sarah turned to the new arrivals. "Hello," she greeted, drawing out the word once more.

"Oh I'm sorry, these are my friends," Sheldon indicated the other three men with a gesture, introducing each in turn, "Leonard Hofstadter, Rajesh Koothrappali and Howard Wolowitz." He then gestured to the pretty woman beside him. "May I present Sarah Peters."

"Leonard," Sarah pointed to the man in glasses, who nodded and smiled. "Rajesh?" She pointed to the Indian man who lowered his head and waved silently. "And Howard."

The man with the bowl cut stepped forward and offered his hand with a slight bow and a, "Milady."

Sarah hesitatingly placed her hand in Howard's, smiling shyly once again when he raised her hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. "I'm gonna need my hand back," she said when it wasn't released quick enough.

Moving in front of the other two, Howard asked, "So, you new around here?"

"Yeah, I moved here last month with my sister."

"You have a sister?" Howard leaned forward a little more, his smile taking on a somewhat disturbing tilt.

"I do," Sarah answered hesitantly, drawing her words out again.

"Excuse me, but that's enough frivolous conversation for one night. I'm going to look at comic books now," Sheldon announced as he turned and walked away.

"Nice meeting you, Sheldon," Sarah called quietly with a small wave. The man turned and smiled momentarily before continuing on his way.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Howard brought Sarah's attention back to him.

She shrugged noncommittally. "Oh, you know... What about you guys?"

"I'm an engineer, currently working on some top secret NASA equipment," Howard sniffed, hooking his thumbs in his belt and looking expectantly at Sarah.

"Hey, that's pretty impressive. What about you, Rajesh?" Sarah turned away from the mildly disturbing man and faced the silent Indian.

"Oh, uh, he can't talk to women," Leonard spoke up, while Rajesh held his hands together in front of him and slowly walked away to browse the comic books with Sheldon.

"That's too bad," Sarah smiled after the retreating man. "Can you tell me what he does? And Sheldon?"

"He's an astrophysicist, Sheldon's a theoretical physicist, and I'm an experimental physicist," Leonard answered.

"Interesting." Sarah folded her arms around her middle again, turning a wide smile to Leonard. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're all relatively clever, then."

"Yeah, we are." Howard moved closer still to Sarah, who was beginning to look uncomfortable. "You never told us what you do. I'm gonna guess that you're a super model or, I don't know, a witch."

"A witch?" she repeated, eyebrows rising in question.

"You've bewitched me with your stunning beauty." Howard grinned, happy with his impromptu pick up line.

"Right," she rolled her eyes and took a small step away from the strange little man.

"Uh, you didn't tell us what you do, Sarah," Leonard interrupted, eager to keep this pretty girl talking with them.

"No, I didn't, did I?" she deflected with a smile. When she saw the expectant looks on her new acquaintances faces, she looked over her shoulder and mumbled, "I'm sort of a... critic."

"Well hey, that sounds exciting," Leonard offered, and received a shy smile for his comment.

"I like it," she shrugged. "So anyway, you guys seem nice enough, and I need someone to show me around the city. You know, places to eat, places to shop, stuff like that. What d'you think?"

"It would be an honour, beautiful Sarah, to escort you around our fair city," Howard gushed, sweeping a slight bow with another cheesy grin.

"Uhm, Sheldon and Rajesh too?" She asked, moving closer to Leonard and further away from Howard.

"Sure. How about we meet here on Saturday, say, ten o'clock, and we can show you around?" Leonard suggested, unable to decided whether he should feel shocked, privileged, or confused at his current predicament.

Sarah smiled at him again, and he settled on privileged. "Sounds good. I'll look forward to it. Well, it was lovely meeting you, Leonard," she shook his hand shyly, then turned a hesitant smile on Howard. "Nice meeting you too, Howard."

"The pleasure was all mine, I assure you," he smiled and bowed his head again.

With an obviously forced chuckle, Sarah stepped away from him and began to head towards the door. "Oh," she paused and turned back to the staring pair. "Tell Sheldon and Rajesh that I'm looking forward to meeting them again. Bye!" And with a wave, she left the store.

"What was all that about?" Stuart asked as he practically ran toward Leonard and Howard.

The two of them were still looking towards the door, even though Sarah was out of sight. "We made a new friend," Leonard said with a smug smile.

"An incredibly hot friend I wanna take down under," Howard added, the other two looking at him oddly for his comment.

"She moved here last month and asked if we could show her around," Leonard clarified for Stuart.

"Did she say what she was doing here? I mean, here in the store?" the proprietor asked.

"No, she didn't. She did say she was a critic, maybe she critiques comic books?" Leonard offered, though clearly no one believed it, including himself.

"Oh yeah, I bet someone that looks like that would totally be into comic books," Stuart said sarcastically before turning away and getting back to work.

Leonard and Howard went over to where Sheldon and Rajesh were still browsing. None of them said anything for a while, until Rajesh finally asked, "What did the pretty girl say?"

"We're all meeting Sarah here on Saturday at ten to show her around town," Leonard absently answered with a half smile as he flipped through the comics.

"Excuse me?" Sheldon looked up from the comic books and fixed a steady stare on his roommate. "We already have plans for Saturday. You can't just make new plans and include me in them without consulting with me first."

"Oh come on, Sheldon!" Leonard's shoulders slumped and he glanced at Sheldon before turning back to the comics. "She said she was looking forward to meeting you again."

"She did?" He tilted his head on an angle, made a face, and turned back to the comics. "How odd."

"She's looking forward to seeing you too, Raj," Leonard added with a smirk.

"Really?" He looked up with an eager smile.

"Your conversational skills must have really left an impression on her."

"Oh, ha-ha."

The small band of scientist spent the next hour leafing through comic books, each finding at least one that they decided they had to purchase. During the car drive back to the apartment, they each speculated about where they should take their new acquaintance on the weekend. It was Leonard that came up with the idea of inviting Penny to come with them. She could not only help with destinations, but hopefully her company would keep the pretty Australian with them longer.


	2. Chapter 2

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

CHAPTER TWO

~ Compatibility Test ~

Thursday and Friday passed at different speeds for each scientist, some looking forward to the planned meeting more than others. Eventually the designated time rolled around, and they made their way to the Comic Book Store with Penny in tow, and arrived only five minutes late.

Sarah was waiting for them outside the store, leaning against the window and staring at her feet. She was wearing a long pink shirt with 'qtp' written in black across the chest, faded blue jeans and full white sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, loose strands falling to her shoulders and framing her face along with her fringe. When she saw her guides making their way towards her, she straightened up and smiled.

"Hey guys," she greeted, taking a step forward.

"Hey. Uh, Sarah, this is Penny. Penny, Sarah," Leonard introduced as the two women stepped forward to meet each other.

"Hello, Penny," Sarah greeted, shaking her hand once.

"Hiya. Cute shirt," Penny complimented with a friendly smile.

"Thanks. I thought it would be appropriate for the present company."

"Oh no, you're not a brainiac too, are you?" Penny asked with a now obviously forced smile.

"No no, I'm not all that clever, don't worry," Sarah assured her with a shy grin. "But if I start talking too fast or too much, just hit me or something and I'll stop."

"Got it," Penny grinned, wondering why certain other people that talked too much didn't also offer such an appealing remedy.

"So! What's first on the itinerary?" Sarah asked, folding her arms around her stomach and smiling pleasantly at everyone.

"Despite my best efforts of producing one, there is no actual itinerary," Sheldon spoke up, stepping forward. "Apparently we're just going to 'wing it', though I am beyond a reason of a doubt that without some sort of plan, this will all come to nothing."

Sarah took a small step back, her shoulders hunching just a little bit. "If you don't want to be here, you don't have to be. I don't want to force my company on anyone," she said softly, looking at the others to let them know that the same applied to them before looking back down at her feet.

"Aw." Moving forward, Penny wrapped an arm around Sarah's shoulders and started rubbing her arm, ignoring the confused look from the slightly shorter woman. "I've got an idea. Let's just you and me go shopping and we'll meet the boys somewhere for lunch. That sound okay?"

"Uhm..." With a shy smile, Sarah looked up at the blonde and nodded. "Okay. Sounds good, Penny."

So after Leonard apologised to Sarah for Sheldon's behavior, Howard tried another pick up line but was intercepted by Penny, Raj managed a shy smile that earned him one in return, and the meeting place and time for lunch was decided upon, the group split up.

Penny took Sarah to the closest clothes store, chatting amiably in the car on the way there about how stupid smart people were. It took a few minutes of monologue and three shirt recommendations before the perky Nebraskan managed to get the timid Australian to speak freely. Obviously she was shy and uncertain when it came to other people.

"So, you've been here for a month, right?" Penny asked, thumbing through a rack of skirts.

"That's right. I moved here with my sister, but I think I'm going to have to find my own place pretty soon," Sarah admitted, looking around at the clothes but not actually touching any of them.

"You got a boyfriend yet?" Penny turned her face to smile at her new friend.

Sarah blushed bright red in a straight line across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. "N-No way! I've only been here for a month!"

"Well, yeah, but you're cute and your accent is hot. I bet you've got a handful of guys panting at your door already." Penny jabbed her elbow at Sarah's ribs and grinned knowingly.

Sarah's reaction surprised her. Her blush disappeared and she folded her arms in front of her, holding her elbows in her hands as she looked almost wistfully at the rack of skirts Penny had been looking at. "Thanks, but you don't have to do that."

"Do what? I'm just calling it how I see it," Penny assured.

A small smile only doubled the look of wistfulness. "Thank you, Penny, really, but I know I'm nothing special to look at. Besides, I think my accent only confuses a lot of people. Before Sheldon came and talked to me in the comic book store, no one had."

"Oh, sweetie." Penny moved to hug Sarah again. "Don't worry, I'll introduce you to some of my friends. You'll have a boyfriend in no time flat."

The blush returned to Sarah's face as a dusting of pink across her cheeks. "That's okay. I don't really need a boyfriend right now."

"You just get over a bad break up?" the blonde asked knowingly, turning back to the skirts.

"Uh, no, not exactly." Sarah's blush deepened. "I've kinda... never had a boyfriend before."

"You're kidding me," Penny laughed without even turning around. When Sarah didn't say anything for a while, she turned to look at her and saw the pensive look. "You're not kidding. Oh my gosh. How old are you? Twenty one, two?"

"Twenty six," Sarah corrected. She looked away from Penny and turned toward a rack of shirts, studying them without touching them. "But that has nothing to do with anything."

"No way. How come you've never had a boyfriend?"

Sarah shrugged. "Besides the obvious? I guess I'm kinda shy. But it doesn't matter. If I'm lucky, one day I'll meet someone who will be able to put up with me. In the meantime, I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Heck, I would," Penny snorted. Placing her hands on her hips, she turned to Sarah and gave her a once over. After a moment of inspecting, she pointed resolutely at her. "Right. I'm getting you a boyfriend."

Eyes widening in a look of pure panic, Sarah raised her hands and waved them in front of her. "No no, you really don't have to!"

"Too bad, that's what's happening!" Penny grinned.

Sarah tried to dissuade Penny from her apparent plan for another ten minutes before she gave up with a sigh and a bemused shake of her head. They shopped around the store for a while longer, and Penny bought four new shirts, a skirt and two pairs of shorts. Sarah bought nothing, despite the blonde's goading.

The next stop was a short strip that had several cafés, pubs and clubs on both sides of the street. The two girls didn't actually go into any of the establishments, but they checked them out for future reference. After that there was another clothes shop nearby and they repeated the process of the first store; Penny bought several new articles of clothing and tried to get Sarah to buy something, but failed.

Lunch time came and Penny drove Sarah to the Cheesecake Factory to meet the boys. They'd already taken a table, saving two seats for the girls. After greetings were exchanged, Penny took the seat next to Leonard and Sarah sat at the head of the table.

Holding the menu in her hands almost gingerly, Sarah asked, "So what's good here?"

"It's all good," Penny assured her with a smile that was returned.

"I beg to differ. However I will admit that the Barbeque Burger is quite delectable," Sheldon interrupted without looking up from his own menu.

"Hm." Sarah scanned the menu for the burger and read what was in it. "It does sound good. Okay, I'll get that." She folded the menu and put it down with a smile she turned on everyone at the table.

"So, how did you like shopping, Sarah?" Leonard asked the brunette, leaning forward.

"Yeah, it was fun." She smiled at Penny, then turned back to Leonard with a small shrug. "Didn't see any games shops, though. You know of any?"

"You play video games?" Howard asked, now also leaning towards Sarah.

"Of course. Do you?" she asked with a shy smile, suddenly worried that she might have said too much.

"Do we play video games!" Howard laughed. "Honey, you're looking at some of the best gamers in town."

"Really? We'll have to play something some time."

"I'll play with you any time you want, baby," Howard replied with a suggestive look, lowering his voice.

"Howard, no. Down." Penny shook her head at him, and he leaned back in his chair, somewhat defeated. It seemed that Penny had taken it upon herself to be the barrier between Sarah and Howard's advances.

"So, uh, what games do you play, Sarah?" Leonard asked, trying to smooth over the conversation.

She shrugged again. "I'll play anything, really. Though I just started playing through Halo one again. I haven't gotten anything new in a little while."

"You play Halo?" Sheldon asked, looking up.

Sarah nodded, turning to face him. "I do. It's one of my favourite game series."

Rajesh leaned over to Sheldon, who he was sitting next to, and, holding a hand up to cover his mouth, whispered into the taller man's ear. Sheldon flinched at the proximity, but dutifully listened to his friend.

"We already have four players," he responded to the Indian man. Raj whispered again. "Then there would be no reason for you to be there."

At an insistent gesture from Rajesh and curious looks from everyone else, Sheldon sighed and shook his head, turning to Sarah and saying, "Raj has suggested that you join us on Wednesday for our regular Halo night, to which I replied that we already have the required number of players. He then said that he would forfeit his place for you to join in and he would watch."

"Really? Aw, how sweet of you, Raj." Sarah smiled at Rajesh, and he looked down at the table, but he was smiling too. "Why don't we do a round robin sort of thing? Raj can play in the first round, and I'll replace whoever has the lowest score, and so on."

"That sounds fair," Leonard agreed. Sheldon was also forced to agree. And so it was decided.

The waitress came and took everyone's orders. Penny and the boys asked Sarah about Australia while they waited for their food, and after they'd all begun eating, she asked them about America. The afternoon passed pleasantly and everyone enjoyed themselves. Plans were made to meet at the comic book store on Wednesday evening, and then Penny drove Sarah home.

It already seemed as though Sarah had integrated herself nicely in with the little band. Everyone already liked her; she was so mild and unassuming that it was difficult not to. Penny had decided that, along with hooking her up with a guy, she was going to educate her on fashion as well. She could already see a lasting friendship with Sarah in the future and was more than pleased that the boys had invited her along.

Raj liked her enormously, especially since she seemed shy like him. Obviously nowhere near to the same degree, but still. Not to mention she had smiled right at him, just for his suggestion of playing Halo. Now if only he could talk to her, he might have a real shot.

Howard thought she had a rockin' body, and he wanted to rock it all night long. If he could only get Sarah alone, with Penny far away, then he was almost positive that he could strike up a relationship with her. She was so demure and malleable to any idea that it was pretty much a shoo-in.

Leonard liked her, but he didn't think that she was quite as pretty as Penny. If he could have a choice, he would choose Penny every time. Of course, if a relationship with Sarah presented itself, he certainly wouldn't turn it away. She was incredibly nice and pretty smart.

Shockingly, even Sheldon liked Sarah. Her contralto voice was low enough so as not to irritate, and she was quiet enough that he didn't have to listen to her overmuch. She had listened to him attentively with wide eyes as he had explained String Theory, and seemed to understand the gist of it. If he absolutely had to extend his social circle, he was okay with Sarah being the addition.


	3. Chapter 3

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

CHAPTER THREE

~ Un-Freakin'-Believable ~

"She's late," Sheldon complained at a quarter past five the following Wednesday at the comic book store.

"Relax, Sheldon. She'll be here," Leonard reassured him with absolutely no confidence.

Another ten minutes passed, during which time Sheldon complained about punctuality, Leonard began to doubt if their new friend would show, Howard fantasised about how he could make her late, and Raj found a new Flash comic book.

The four of them turned to the door when the jingle of the bell announced its opening to see a somewhat panicked looking Sarah standing there, her hair flying around her face. She was wearing camo print cargo shorts, her black and white shoes and a black t-shirt with a white picture of a man being shot in the head, his helmet flying off, a splash of red blood for the background. When she saw the guys, she sighed in apparent relief and moved over to them, running a hand through her frazzled hair.

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late, guys. My sister needed some help and I couldn't get away," Sarah panted, having run from her home to the store.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Leonard waved a hand dismissively, eyes drawn to the picture on Sarah's shirt. "We were just looking at comics."

With a smile that lit up her face, Sarah looked around. "Last week when I was here, I saw..." She trailed off as she moved over to one of the racks, looking through the comics set thereon. "Ah-ha!"

With her cry of triumph, Sarah plucked a comic from its place and held it lightly in her hands. "I've been looking for this one for ages," she explained, gently running her fingers along the spine.

"You read comic books too?" Howard asked, somehow appearing right behind the now startled Sarah.

She nodded her head slowly. "Of course. What else would I have been doing in a comic book store?"

"We all just assumed that you got lost," Leonard explained, gesturing to his friends.

Shaking her head, Sarah looked down at the comic in her hands. "Nah, I read comics. Mostly X-Men, though I'm willing to try anything that you might recommend," she added with a smile at Leonard.

The next few minutes were spent with the four guys leading Sarah around the comic book store, showing her what they read and arguing amongst themselves on what was better. Of course, Raj didn't voice his opinion, rather whispering it loudly into Howard's ear, who broadcast the Indian's thoughts for him.

By the time everyone was ready to leave, Sarah had picked up, as well as her X-Men comic, a Flash, Batman, and a Superman comic as well. The guys didn't get anything, but they waited behind her while she went to the counter to purchase her finds.

Stuart smiled at her, and she grinned back, handing over the books. "Just these, thanks."

"So you really do read comic books. I thought you might have wandered in here by accident," Stuart said as he scanned the barcodes on the books. "I'm Stuart, by the way. I own the store."

"Oh wow, that's neat. Hey, if you ever need a hand around here, I've always got spare time," Sarah offered.

More than one pair of eyes looked at her oddly. Stuart asked incredulously, "Seriously? You wanna work at a comic book store?"

"My job doesn't really have set hours. I work whenever, and usually at night, so a second job would be fine," Sarah explained with a tiny shrug before wrapping her arms around her middle. "Of course, you don't have to hire me. Just a suggestion."

"Yeah, no, I'll definitely think about it," Stuart assured as he carefully shucked her comics into a bag and handed them to her. He made sure that their hands touched as Sarah reached for the bag and took it with a heart-piercing smile.

"Thanks. Here." Holding her bag in one hand, Sarah reached into her pocket and took out a pen. Waving it in the air in a writing gesture, she asked, "You got a piece of paper? I'll give you my number so you can contact me."

Fumbling around his desk, Stuart practically threw the pad of paper at her in his haste. "Here."

Leaning over the counter, Sarah mumbled her mobile number aloud as she wrote it down, mixing the last two numbers up but correcting herself quickly with a sheepish grin. Behind her, Leonard, Howard and Raj all tilted their heads on an angle as they appreciated her behind. Sheldon wished she would hurry up.

Slipping the pen into the plastic bag in her hand, she slid the pad of paper across to Stuart, who immediately picked it up and stared at it. "There'ya go. Give me a call if you ever want a hand around the store, and I'll come running!"

"Sure, yeah, I definitely will," the man assured with a somewhat self satisfied grin.

Waving goodbye to the mildly flabbergasted proprietor, Sarah let the four guys out the door before she followed them out. They walked down the street a little bit where a gray car waited. Sarah watched as Leonard and Sheldon went for the driver's seat and front seat respectively, Raj and Howard heading to each of the back doors.

"Uhm..." She held a hand out, a finger raised in the universal 'just a sec' gesture.

"What's wrong, Sarah?" Leonard asked, turning to her.

"D'you think I could sit in the front?" She sounded a little nervous. It was a five seated car, so if she was in the back, she would have to be pressed up against at least one person, if not two.

"I sit in the front," Sheldon answered, opening his door and sliding into said seat. He shut the door behind him with finality.

"Did you want to drive?" Leonard offered, holding his keys out.

"Oh no, I can't." Waving her hands in front of her, she stepped back a little.

Leonard shrugged. "Don't worry, it's not exactly a new car. I don't mind."

"No, I mean I really can't. I don't have a licence," Sarah admitted, lowering her head, embarrassed.

"Ah, you still need to exchange your licence over?"

"No. I've never had a licence." Sarah took another, small step back, her shoes scuffing the sidewalk.

"Don't worry, me an' Raj won't bite," Howard interrupted with a hand on her elbow and a smile.

"O-Okay," she stuttered quietly, letting Howard steer her into the car. Raj got in the other side, so she was forced to sit between the two of them. Folding her arms around her middle, she tried to make herself as small as possible. The guys heard when she sucked a breath in and held it, but didn't comment.

During the drive, Leonard tried to talk to Sarah to get her to loosen up, but she seemed almost distracted, answering with the shortest answers she could. Howard talked to her, too, and his hand 'somehow' landed on her knee and took up residence there. Her face burnt bright red and she kept her eyes down.

Finally the car stopped as Leonard parked at the Chinese restaurant. "Where are we?" Sarah asked, looking out both side windows with wide, curious eyes.

"Yeah, we have dinner here on Wednesdays. Figured you might as well join us." Leonard smiled broadly. He had a feeling that she wouldn't have said no if they had of asked, but this way they were guaranteed a dinner with the pretty girl.

"Oh. Alrighty then." Evidently, Sarah was fine with it. She smiled.

They all piled out of the car and headed into the restaurant, where they were greeted by a nice looking elderly man whose face was wrinkled in such a way that it was obvious he liked to smile. The man expressed his surprise at seeing a 'pretty young thing' with the guys, and lead them to their regular table, pulling a chair from another table over and holding it for Sarah to sit. She did, with a great big blush on her face.

The four boys slid into either side of the table, Leonard and Sheldon on one side, Raj and Howard on the other, Sarah on the side between Sheldon and Howard. She leaned a little away from Howard, not willing to let him touch her again.

"This isn't going to work," Sheldon suddenly announced as he pushed his menu forward on the table.

"What do you mean, Sheldon?" Leonard asked with a sigh of longsuffering, rolling his eyes as he looked at his friend.

"We always get four appetisers for the four of us. Each of the appetisers is served in portions of four. How are we supposed to share between five people?" he asked rhetorically, gesturing to each person seated at the table with a hand.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Sheldon. I'll just get my own stuff, and you guys can do what you normally do. I don't wanna disrupt any sort of routine that you have." Sarah smiled at the boys each for a moment, then turned down to the table, folding her hands in her lap.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Sheldon smiled. "This is going to work out nicely."

The four guys all ordered their usual, and Sarah ordered a small, plain fried rice. They talked about different video games while they waited for their order to be filled, and even Sheldon noticed how animated Sarah's face was when she talked about games. Obviously it was a passion of hers. When the food arrived, the talking died down a little. The guys sorted out their meals and Sarah picked at her fried rice delicately.

"So. Halo, huh?" Leonard awkwardly began the new conversation.

"Yeah. I can't wait to play with you guys. I usually play online, but never with another person, if that makes any sense," Sarah said, scrunching her face in confusion at her own sentence.

"No, it doesn't." Sheldon ignored the evil glares from his three male friends. "But your meaning got through."

Sarah smiled at Sheldon, who wasn't the only person who wondered why she had done. "D'you guys play online?"

"Of course. But there aren't a lot of players that really pose any sort of challenge." Howard sniffed, cracking his fingers in what he thought was a macho display. The sound made Sarah wince.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

She rotated her shoulder and tilted her head. "Crack your fingers. I can't stand that sound. It's horrible."

"Sure." Howard lowered his head. Darn. Being chastised wasn't part of the plan.

Steering the conversation back on track, Sarah turned to Leonard and asked with a smile, "So who's the best player out of you four? What sort of competition am I looking at?"

"I would be the best player, hands down," Sheldon oh-so-modestly answered. "And we play in teams, so you don't have to worry. Your inevitable slack will be picked up."

The insult, though it earned Sheldon more glares, seemed to roll right off Sarah's back. She grinned. "Teams? D'you think before I go home we could do a little three on one?"

"If you want to be completely slaughtered, sure," Sheldon ceded with a nonchalant shrug of a shoulder.

Sarah's grin only widened, a mischievous look in her eye. They all finished their meals, Sarah taking the uneaten half of her small fried rice in a takeaway box. They piled back into the car, a look of nervousness again of Sarah's face. When Howard tried to put his hand on her leg again, she shifted if away. He got the message and didn't pursue, though he did 'yawn' and put his arm out behind her. Her back stiffened noticeably and remained stiff for the entire drive.

"You didn't eat much, Sarah. You feeling okay?" Leonard asked when he noticed the scared-as-all-hell look on her face.

"Diet," she said, as though that was a complete answer.

"Really? You don't need to." Leonard smiled at her through the rear-view mirror.

She shook her head infinitesimally, blushing a little. "Can't eat too much take out. I gain weight easy," she admitted in a tiny voice.

"Well now that's interesting," Sheldon began, mostly talking to himself. He hadn't spoken half as much as he would like to yet. "Easy weight gain would suggest either a slow metabolism, an inactive lifestyle, a family propensity for being large, or having already lost weight. People who lose weight are more likely to gain it back than not."

"How about a combination of the above?" Sarah fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hm, if there was more than one factor working against you, you certainly would want to be careful of your food intake. I would guess, judging by your basic bone structure, that your family consists of either taller or larger persons. None of the others seem to fit, so I'm going to assume that you also have a slow metabolism."

"Sheldon, this is hardly good conversation," Leonard interrupted when he saw the blush on Sarah's face spread and intensify. She sent him a look of such gratitude as she silently mouthed 'thank you' that he grinned.

"Anyway, even if Sarah did gain a couple of pounds, she'd still be a radiantly shining star," Howard added, leaning a little closer to said 'star'.

"Heh, I can't gain _just _a couple of pounds. It's all or nothing, I'm afraid," Sarah admitted as she leaned away from Howard, making both herself and Raj uncomfortable with their new proximity.

Thankfully, Leonard was already parking the car behind the apartment building. Piling out again, Sarah walked behind the boys as they led the way into the building. She paused in the foyer and looked around, then scurried to catch up to the boys.

"What's the deal with the elevator?" she asked as they reached the third floor, and she noticed more 'Caution' tape all over the lift doors.

"It's broken," Sheldon answered with a look on his face that suggested he thought Sarah was an idiot.

"Thanks, Sherlock." Sarah grinned at the look of consternation on Sheldon's face, and earned herself a smile from the other three for her remark. "I meant _why_ is it broken? What happened to it?"

"Leonard broke it," Sheldon supplied, trying to regain his lost face.

"Leonard," Sarah drew the name out with a exasperated air that was clearly put on if the smile on her face was anything to go by. "What d'ya do that for?"

"I didn't do it on purpose," he mumbled, fiddling with his keys as he stood in front of his apartment door.

"O'course not. But that _still_ doesn't tell me what happened."

"It's a long story," Leonard deflect as he held the door open and let everyone else in first.

Sarah looked around the room with a grin. "Wow, nice place. I like it."

"Thank you." Leonard beamed, relieved not only that Sarah approved of their decorating but also that the topic of conversation had safely shifted from the elevator fiasco. "Take a seat, and we'll set up."

"'Kay." Sarah moved over to the sitting area, and looked at the seating arrangement. She wasn't aware of it, but the four guys were all watching her, just waiting for her to pick the one spot she shouldn't. Surprisingly, she sat on the floor, between the coffee table and the couch. Then she saw the four surprised stares. "What?"

"You don't have to sit on the floor," Leonard replied, taking a step forward.

Sarah shook her head and smiled. "I don't want to take anyone's spot. Besides, I'm the youngest of five kids, I'm used to sitting on the floor."

"Wow, big family. All girls, or...?" Leonard's question trailed off when Sarah shook her head.

"Nah, I got two brothers, two sisters. 'S'funny, it goes boy, girl, boy, girl, then me. So I always figured I was just made up of the leftovers of the others." Sarah shrugged and smiled up at the boys, who were setting up the Xbox.

Sheldon turned to send Leonard a look that was thoroughly ignored. Turning back to Sarah, he tried to explain basic genetics to her. She smiled and nodded with the appropriate amount of interest displayed. When Sheldon was finished, now seated in his spot, she grinned and laughed quietly to herself.

With no more to be said, the game was set up and the teams formed. Howard and Raj were red team while Leonard and Sheldon were blue. It was decided that the player with the least kills would opt out and be replaced. Sarah watched silently but with an enormous grin on her face as the boys shouted at each other as they slunk around the game map. By the end of the fifteen minute round, last place was tied between Raj and Sheldon. They played another round at her behest, and Raj lost outright.

"Tough luck," Sarah smiled as she carefully took the controller from Raj. He shuffled a little further away from her as soon as he handed it over. "So, same teams? Or d'you wanna shuffle it up?"

"I'll go on your team, Sarah," Leonard offered before Howard could even open his mouth.

So with the new teams set, the next map was loaded. At first, Sarah hung back and let the boys kill each other, still smiling at their shouting out orders to each other. Five minutes into the round, she got out her sniper riffle and began to wreak havoc.

At the end of the fifteen minutes, Sarah was the runaway winner and Howard had come last. Raj took his place, Sarah offering to be on his team, and the next round began.

Suffice to say, Sarah wasn't rotated out again. She came first in every round and was teamed up with each of the boys more than once. Sheldon tried to hog her to himself so that he was on the winning team, but for once he didn't get his way.

"This is ridiculous," he grumbled. "Attractive women should not be this good at games." He would have been more annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that he had won with her on his team.

"Hey, how 'bout that three on one?" Sarah suggested with a grin. "Still think I'll get slaughtered, Sheldon?"

They played three rounds of three on one. Sarah was killed twice in the first round, since Sheldon had already been throwing a grenade when she had respawned. In the second round she died twice more, so that now each of the guys had killed her once. By the end of the third round, in which she didn't die once, all four of them had a new respect for the Australian gamer.

_'Double kill. Triple kill. Un-freakin'-believable!'_

The voice over had startled the boys when Sarah had shot Howard with a shotgun and earned her twenty-fifth kill without dying. Two seconds later, the scores came up announcing, again, that Sarah had won. Easily.

Sighing with satisfaction, she leaned back on her hands, resting the controller in her lap. "That was really fun. Thanks so much for having me over, guys."

Sarah was about to suggest that they go just one more round when the door swung open and Penny stuck her head in. "Oh, that was your voice I heard, Sarah. Whattaya still doing here? It's midnight!" As she spoke she let herself into the apartment and came to stand beside Sarah. She was wearing a dress that suggested she had been out at a club.

"Sheesh, seriously?" Leaning on one hip, Sarah reached into her pants pocket and pulled out her phone to check the time. "Well crap."

"What's wrong?" Penny asked.

"Missed my curfew. My sister won't open the door to me after eleven."

"Why not?"

"Wakes the kids."

"You're an aunt?" Leonard asked, trying to squeeze in on the girls' conversation.

Sighing as she put her phone back in her pocket, Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Hmm." She stood up and rubbed her wrists as she glanced around. "Hm."

"Hey, if you need a place to stay you can crash on my couch for the night," Penny offered with a vague gesture.

Sarah shook her head. "No, I don't want to impose. I'll just stay at a hotel or something."

"Don't be silly." Penny grabbed the brunette's arm and began tugging her towards the door. "'Night guys!"

The boys all chorused the farewell and received one from Sarah in turn. Penny pulled her through the door and across the hall. When she was released, Sarah came back to the boy's apartment and thanked them for the enjoyable evening once more before gently closing the door.

After a brief moment of silence, Leonard sighed, "Wow."

"Dibs," Howard announced, staring at the door.

"No way, dude!" Raj countered. "You can't call dibs!"

"What, you were planning on making a move? You can't speak to the woman," Howard argued. "Besides, she's shy and delicate. She needs a real man to take care of her."

"Shy and delicate? She spent the last four hours mercilessly slaughtering us," Sheldon spoke up.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone play Halo that well before," Leonard complimented her. "We should do this again."

"No."

The other three guys stared incredulously at Sheldon, who had said 'no'. "I know I'm probably going to regret asking but, why not, Sheldon?" Leonard asked tiredly.

"Sarah can't come and play Halo with us again... Unless she's on my team."


	4. Chapter 4

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

**MsPadfootPotter - **_Thank you for your review, I really appreciate it. I've gone over and changed some things in upcoming chapters to try and make Sarah less Sue-ish, though there is a reason that she's so tolerant of Sheldon which will subtly be revealed in chapter five. I have to admit that she'll probably be aggravatingly good for a little while, though it's not going to be all unicorn poop and rainbow farts forever. Besides which, I intend to make this one hella long story, so I think I have some time for inane banality. Thanks again!_

_And, of course, thank you to all my other reviewers, too. _

_Rock the dragon._

CHAPTER FOUR

~ Offensive Measures ~

Three weeks passed, and Sarah was fully integrated into the group. She spent most of her time with Penny, who had begun the Australian's fashion tutoring, (which seemed almost to be a lost cause,) but was always ready to spend time with the guys as well. She played Halo with them twice more, and each time was placed on Sheldon's team. She didn't seem to mind.

The boys were so happy with their newest friend that they could hardly remember a time when she wasn't there. She often shouted them dinner, and lent them video games that they didn't have. She was still very quiet and soft spoken, but nowhere near as shy.

Penny even took Sarah out to clubs a couple of times, trying to set her up with a guy. But every time it looked like things were going well, Sarah ended up deflecting the guy onto one of Penny's other friends. She seemed happy, though, so the subject wasn't pushed.

Sarah ended up spending the night at Penny's quite a few times. And it was after one of these nights that she received an invite to a party that Penny was having.

"A Halloween party?" Sarah repeated.

"Yeah," Penny confirmed. "A bunch of my friends are coming. We're gonna drink, dance. Everyone will love you, you should totally come."

"Halloween was never really big in Aus." Sarah shrugged. "I've never been to a Halloween party."

"Oh, then you have to come! It'll be so much fun," Penny assured her, patting her shoulder. "You get to wear a costume and everything."

"Costume?" Sarah's face lit up and she nodded. "Well, in that case. Hey, why don't I come over early and help you set up?"

"Sure. It's this Saturday, so you can just spend Friday night at my place."

"Sounds like a plan."

When Friday evening came around, Sarah showed up at Penny's apartment with her costume and other things in a luggage bag, and they stayed up late chatting. In the morning Penny had to work, so Sarah spent the day cleaning her rooms from top to bottom and organising snacks and drinks.

Penny had told her that she was starting the party at seven, but that no one would show up until at least eight, eight thirty. Sarah was completely ready by the time Penny got home at five.

"Oh wow, you look so pretty!" Penny had gushed as soon as she was through the door.

Sarah blushed and shrugged dismissively. "I couldn't think of anything else."

She was dressed as a princess, the inspiration taken from the Hebrew meaning of her name. She'd curled her hair and tied it back into a bun, three longer locks falling over her shoulder, many smaller wisps framing her face, which was clean of makeup save for dark blue eye shadow and mascara. A silver tiara rested atop her head, sparkling in the light, silver hoop earrings dangling from her ears and a fine silver necklace hanging against her chest. Her pale blue dress was long with long bell sleeves, slashed open at the front to reveal a slightly darker blue layer and cinched flatteringly at the waist with a silver band, the neckline cut in a v that demurely showed a hint of cleavage. The dress covered her feet, but when she walked it revealed her blue slippers.

"If you don't get a guy tonight, then they're all crazy," Penny said as she went to her bedroom to change from her work uniform.

"I told you, Penny, I'm not looking for a guy," Sarah called after her, fiddling with the couch cushions.

Once Penny was changed, the two girls sat down and chatted for a while before finishing the decorations. Penny told Sarah all about her day at the Cheesecake Factory, and an audition that she had coming up. As soon as the conversation started to lean towards Sarah's occupation, she subtly steered it back onto Penny.

At five past seven, there was a knock on the door. Sarah jumped to her feet. "I thought you said no one would show up on time!"

"It must be something else, calm down." Penny grinned at her nervous friend.

"I'm going to wait in your room so no one sees me," Sarah stage-whispered as she quickly tiptoed away, the bedroom door closing behind her with a muted 'click'.

With a grin still on her face, Penny answered the door to find the four boys from across the hall standing there, all dressed and ready for the party. Her grin became slightly forced. "Oh. Hey, guys."

"Hey, sorry we're late!" Leonard greeted with a wide grin.

"Late?" Penny glanced at the clock on her wall. "It's seven oh five."

"And you said the party starts at seven," Sheldon pointed out.

"Well, yeah, I mean, when you start a party at seven, no one shows up at... You know, seven." Penny put her hands on her hips, but tried her hardest to keep smiling.

"It's seven oh five," Sheldon reminded her.

"Yes, yes it is. Okay. Well uhm, come on in." Penny stepped to the side and opened the door further, letting the boys through.

The boys all came in, Howard sauntering while the other three were a little more shy. When he noticed that the room was empty, he turned to Penny and asked, "What, are all the girls in the bathroom?"

"Probably, but in their own homes," Penny answered.

"So what time does the costume parade start?" Sheldon eagerly interrupted.

"The parade?" Penny asked, confused.

"Yeah, so the judges can give out the prizes for best costume. Most frightening, most authentic, most accurate visualisation of a scientific principle." Sheldon straightened out his shirt, clearly indicating that he thought he had that particular prize in the bag.

"Oh, Sheldon, I'm sorry but there aren't going to be any parades or judges or... prizes," Penny told him gently.

After a brief pause, Sheldon turned away and said, "This party is just going to suck."

"Noo, come on, it's gonna be fun! And you all look great. I mean look at you, Thor," she gestured to Raj, who was dressed as the Norse god, "And, oh, Peter Pan! That's so cute!" She smiled at Howard, who was wearing green tights.

"Actually, Penny, he's Robin-" Leonard began, but was cut off by Howard saying loudly, "I'm Peter Pan! And I got a handful of pixie dust with your name on it." He blew on his hand with a cheesy grin.

"No you don't," Penny rebuffed him with another forced smile. "Uh, hey, what's Sheldon supposed to be?"

"Oh, he's the Doppler effect," Leonard explained with a look on his face that suggested he wished Sheldon wasn't the Doppler effect.

"Yes. It's the apparent change in the frequency of a wave caused by relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer," Sheldon explained, tilting his body to show off his costume.

"Oh! Sure, I see it now, the Doppler effect." Turning away from Sheldon with wide eyes, Penny said to the others, "Alright, I gotta shower, you guys, uh, make yourselves comfortable, and I'll send Sarah out."

"Sarah's already here?" Howard asked, looking almost frantically around the room.

"Yeah, she helped me set up. Doesn't this place look great?" Penny grinned proudly and held her arms out to indicate the apartment.

"It does seem cleaner than I had expected," Sheldon admitted. Of course, he had done a better job once upon a time, but he wasn't allowed to speak of 'the incident'.

Completely ignoring Sheldon, again, Penny cooed, "Oh, just wait 'till you see her costume! She's gorgeous!"

"Yeah?" Leonard asked, eagerly. He was just as eager to see Penny's costume, but with Sarah being a gamer, her costume might be more interesting.

"I'll send her out now!" Penny squealed, practically bouncing over to her bedroom.

She opened the door just enough to slip through and saw Sarah sitting on the end of her bed. "Hey, who was at the door?" the brunette asked.

"It's just the guys," Penny answered with a wave of her hand. "They're waiting out in the lounge. Go join them while I get ready."

"Okay." Sarah stood up and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her to give her friend some privacy.

"Oh, wow."

Sarah spun around at Leonard's breathy sigh to see the four guys all staring at her. She immediately blushed and smiled, bowing her head as she curtsied. "You like?"

"I have seen roses damask'd, red and white," Howard began dramatically as he stepped forward. "But no such roses see I in her cheeks. And in some perfumes is there more delight, than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak yet well I know, that music hath a far more pleasing sound. I grant I never saw a goddess go, my mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground." He reached a stock-still Sarah and, taking her hand, kissed the back of it.

With a bright red face, Sarah asked quietly, "Did you just quote Shakespeare to me?"

"Hasn't anyone ever done that before?" Howard asked, as though it would be strange if they hadn't.

Sarah shook her head, finally taking her hand back. "Uhm." She chewed on her bottom lip for a second before smiling, and moving carefully past Howard to greet the other guys.

They spent the next few minutes chatting, until Sarah couldn't take it any more and asked what Sheldon was supposed to be. "I'll give you a hint," he said, then made a noise as he moved his head from left to right.

"Hm... Uh... Are there any other clues?" she asked, smiling sheepishly.

"Sheldon, just tell her," Leonard suggested with a sigh.

"Oh alright." Sheldon sounded like he had been massively put out. "I'm the Doppler effect."

"Ahhh." Sarah nodded, her smile broadening. "Sorry. I've only ever seen the Doppler effect represented as a circular wave. But I see it now. Sorry."

"You... You know what the Doppler effect is?" Sheldon asked slowly, visibly surprised.

Sarah nodded slowly, cautiously. "Uh-huh. It's the effect on the frequency of a soundwave from the motion of the source of the wave or something, right?"

Sheldon blinked. Leonard looked thoroughly shocked. Howard and Raj had drifted away from the conversation and missed it. Sarah grinned, face flushing, then asked if any of the boys would like a drink.

The next hour went by pleasantly while the five of them chatted about games and science. Sarah jokingly told the boys that she had planned on dressing up as Cortana from Halo but had run out of blue body paint. Howard immediately drifted away from the conversation into a daydream. Sarah blushed but chose to ignore it. Penny didn't emerge once during this hour, but Sarah assured the guys that she was just getting ready when they began to worry. It was eight twenty when the first handful of guests arrived, and the party started.

Penny, dressed as a black cat, tugged Sarah around, introducing her to everyone, and everyone complimented her on her costume. After ten minutes Sarah was worried that she'd get burnt from blushing so much. Eventually she seemed to click with three other girls who adored her accent, and the four of them chatted for most of the night.

Sarah noticed that the four guys sat on the couch for most of the time, not socializing with any of Penny's friends. She made a point to go and talk to them all as often as she could, which they mostly seemed to appreciate. When Leonard and Sheldon finally started circulating, she grinned at them encouragingly, keeping one eye on them all evening.

She was in the middle of a conversation with a guy that was dressed as a king but with novelty oversized glasses when she saw a man dressed either as Tarzan or a generic caveman ruffling Leonard's hair. The childishly endearing gesture was more hostile than anything in this particular setting, so she kept a very careful eye on the proceedings, ready to intervene.

Barely a moment later, the caveman had lifted Leonard up off his feet and everyone in the room was looking at them. Frowning furiously, Sarah quickly stomped across the room towards them and socked the caveman squarely in the jaw, causing him to drop Leonard from the shock of it with a low yelp. Leonard tumbled into Sheldon, the both of them shocked into statues.

"You wanna keep your hands off my friend, pal?" Sarah asked threateningly. A cheer went up from the crowd, with several rounds of, "You go girl!"

Penny, who had stepped into the hallway to speak to some of her friends who had spilled out of her apartment, came bursting through the doorway at the sound of cheering. She was just in time to see her ex wipe his jaw and leer menacingly down at a furiously scowling Sarah.

"What is going on?" Penny asked, panicked.

"This crazy chic just attacked me!" the caveman practically growled.

"This muscle-bound jerk assaulted Leonard!" Sarah barked back, standing protectively in front of her friends. Leonard and Sheldon stood behind her, far too shocked at her aggression to be able to speak.

"Kurt! What did you do?" Penny demanded.

"I swear, I didn't do anything!"

"Just...! Leave them alone, please," Penny sighed, hands on her hips.

Kurt looked from her to Sarah, who was still scowling dangerously at him. He would never admit it, but she'd actually hurt him. "Whatever," he shrugged then strutted away, trying to regain his dignity after being struck by a _girl_.

Sarah heaved a heavy sigh before turning to Penny. "Sorry. I'll go now."

"But, you're staying here tonight, right?" Penny asked.

Sarah shook her head. "Sorry. I'm going to turn in, and I don't want to disrupt your party any more than I already have."

Leonard, finally having found his vocabulary again, stepped forward. "You can stay at our place, Sarah, if you need a place for the night."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made a scene. I can stay at a hotel, I'll be fine," she said as she inched towards the door.

"Don't be silly. It's the least I can do," Leonard argued.

"The least you could do would be nothing," Sheldon corrected, also having regained himself. "But I also offer the use of our couch for this evening and this evening only."

Leonard stared up at his friend, his eyebrows fairly shooting into his hairline. "Really? Why?"

"Sarah's just proven that she can handle herself against Kurt. If he should pursue the issue, it would probably be safer to have her nearby," Sheldon explained, folding his hands together behind his back.

Sarah smiled at Sheldon's logic. "I don't think he's going to make anything of it, guys. You don't have to worry."

"I dunno," Penny interjected. "He hasn't stopped staring over here."

As one, Sarah, Sheldon and Leonard all turned to see that Kurt was indeed staring at them. The boys immediately turned away, having learnt at a young age that drawing a bully's attention to oneself was not exactly the wisest thing to do. Sarah stared right back at him until he blinked and turned away.

She sighed, shoulders slightly slumping in defeat. "Okay then. I'll keep an eye out. Just let me grab my bag." And she headed off towards Penny's bedroom.

"So what really happened, Leonard?" Penny asked as soon as Sarah was out of earshot.

Leonard was still staring after her. "I said something that made Kurt angry, and he picked me up. Sarah came and sorta... punched him. It was... awesome."

"Wow, really? She must be stronger than she looks," Penny mused aloud.

"And more aggressive than she lets on," Sheldon added. "She was positively livid."

"Maybe she just likes me," Leonard suggested with a smirk. No one commented.

Sarah reemerged with her luggage bag and followed the two boys over to their apartment. She went to the bathroom to change out of her costume while Leonard set up the couch into a bed for her. She asked to take a shower, and Sheldon spent ten minutes briefing her on the bathroom rules and his own bathroom schedule which she would have to work around before she got in.

While Sarah was showering, Penny came in to apologise to Leonard for Kurt's behaviour. She ended up kissing him, but Leonard was a gentleman and sent her home after asking how much she'd had to drink. He was in the middle of kicking himself when Sarah came out of the bathroom wearing gray sweats and a black tank top, her hair straight now and tied back in a ponytail.

"Thanks for putting me up, Leonard," she murmured.

"It's no problem," Leonard said dismissively. "I'm still surprised that Sheldon's okay with it."

"Really?" Sarah's face fell and she folded her arms around her middle. "I knew he didn't like me."

"What? No, don't be silly, he does like you. Which is actually pretty impressive," Leonard added with a reassuring smile.

"I heard my name," Sheldon came out of his room wearing his pyjamas and matching dressing gown, tying the belt around his middle. "What are you saying?"

"We were just talking about whether you liked me or not. Do you like me, Sheldon?" Sarah asked him, her wide eyes somewhat pleading.

He hesitated for a full minute under the brunt of the blue-eyed gaze before replying cautiously, "I don't dislike you."

Sarah smiled a little, visibly relieved. "I'll take a double negative. Anyway, thanks again for letting me stay here."

"Think nothing of it. It's more of a defensive measure than any sort of friendly gesture."

She chuckled. "I can live with that. Well, goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight," the two of them chorused before going to their separate (heterosexual) bedrooms.

Sarah fluffed around for a little while, kept checking that the door was securely locked, and made sure that her bag was safely out of everyone's way behind the couch before finally tucking herself in. She lay awake for a little longer before she fell asleep, sighing lightly.

When Sheldon got up two hours later to tend to the incessant banging on the apartment door, he paused on the hall step, staring at the couch. Sarah had moved, presumably in her sleep, so that her legs were hanging over the arm of the couch and her head was resting on the middle cushion. The blanket Leonard had lent her was bunched around her middle, practically doing nothing.

"Odd," Sheldon noted to himself. Not only his guest's sleeping position, but the fact that she was clearly fast asleep, despite the still insistent knocking on the door. Information to be filed away for future reference; Sarah is a rather deep sleeper.

The knocking continued. "I'm coming," Sheldon called in an effort to make it stop. When he opened the door, he revealed Howard to be the culprit.

"Hey, have you seen Koothrappali?" Howard asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet, a slightly worried look on his face.

"He's not here. Maybe the Avengers summoned him," Sheldon said, more than a little annoyed that he'd gotten out of bed for such a trivial matter.

Howard frowned a little. "He's not the Marvel Comic's Thor, he's the original Norse god."

"Thank you for the clarification." It was almost sarcasm.

"I'm s'posed to give him a ride home," Howard explained his intrusion and worry.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sheldon placated, adding, "He has his hammer."

A soft sigh from the couch drew both men's attention to its occupant. Sarah shifted in her sleep, her arm falling from over her stomach to hang over the edge of the couch as she scooted a little further down it.

"What's _she_ doing here?" Howard asked in a hushed tone, leaning further into the room to ogle what he could of the young lady.

"Being not much of a guard," Sheldon replied. What was the point of having her stay to protect them if she'd sleep through a confrontation?

"Guard? What are you talking about?" Howard's attention was drawn away from the sleeping beauty towards Sheldon.

Sheldon briefly explained to Howard what had happened at Penny's party, as he'd missed the scene. Once the tale was told, his eyes widened noticeably.

"Sheesh. Beauty, brains and brawn. She's the perfect woman!" Howard gushed, smiling over at his hapless soon to be victim.

"She's hardly the smartest woman in the world," Sheldon argued. "Now if you don't mind, you're interrupting my sleep cycle. Please leave."

Howard held his hands up. "Fine, fine. Just let me know if Koothrappali does show up here."

"Of course." Sheldon closed the door on his friend, who tried to keep the sleeping Sarah in his sights for as long as possible until obscured by the door.

Sheldon turned and headed back towards his room, pausing on the hall step once more at the sound of another soft sigh. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman sleeping on his couch. He noted that his spot was being undisturbed, and mentally gave Sarah one free pass when she inevitably invoked her first strike.


	5. Chapter 5

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

**Jislane35 -** _Thank you for your review! You know, I hadn't thought at all about which actress might play the part of Sarah. I don't think that any of them would look quite right to me, but I'm open to suggestions... That's gonna bug me now._

_Many thanks also to all other reviewers! _

_Believe it._

CHAPTER FIVE

~ Professional Nerdism ~

Leonard and Sheldon sat across from each other at one of the university's cafeteria tables, eating their lunch, when Leonard's phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out and read the text that he'd received with a curious look on his face.

"Huh," he murmured.

"What is it?" Sheldon asked, picking at the salad left on his plate.

"Sarah texted me." Leonard leaned his elbows on the table, re-reading the message.

"What did she say?" Sheldon put his cutlery down and pushed his food tray aside, finished with his food, and turned his attention toward his friend.

"She's invited us over for dinner Friday night, at her place." Leonard grinned. "She wants us to meet her nephew."

"We can't," Sheldon shook his head, folding his napkin and placing his cutlery on it. "We have plans."

"No we don't," Leonard argued gently, placing his phone down on the table.

"Yes, we do," Sheldon pressed, sending Leonard a look to let him know that he was disappointed he had said what he had just said. "We have plans every Friday night. Friday night is vintage video game night. We also have Chinese food for dinner on Fridays."

"That's what we usually do, yes," Leonard conceded, picking up his phone as it vibrated again. "But there's absolutely no harm in doing something different just this one time and besides, Sarah says she's making fried rice and will bring out her old game systems."

Having been acquainted with the boys for some time now, Sarah was quite familiar with 'the schedule' for the week. She'd even downloaded it to her iphone. Being the quiet, pliable person that she was, she followed it almost as fanatically as Sheldon did, with none of the complaints that were expected from the others. She explained her amiableness with, "I hate making decisions anyway. This way, I don't have to!"

Sheldon tilted his head in silent contemplation. After a moment, he turned back to Leonard and asked, "What kind of fried rice?"

Leonard fiddled with his phone, and after a minute it vibrated. Instead of reading out the complete recipe that Sarah texted him back, he handed his phone over to Sheldon. He read through the impressive amount of words for such a short time silently. Once he'd read through it, he handed the phone back.

"Okay."

"What?" Leonard did a double take. "Seriously? Just, _okay_? You're not even gonna argue?"

"I don't see why I would," Sheldon shook his head. "It's still the same activities, just at a different venue. Besides, Sarah has more games than us."

"Well, yeah, but this is _you_ that we're talking about. Even if the only change is the venue that should be enough to make you foam at the mouth," Leonard replied with a straight face. It was a little sad that that was an actual possibility.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sheldon chided his friend. "Sarah is now an integral part of our social group. And as such, she has an equal right to host any event that she should choose to host. And, again, she has more games than us."

Leonard looked at Sheldon curiously for a while, then leant back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest. "You like her," he accused.

"Of course I do. It's impossible not to like her, she's delightful." After a brief pause, Sheldon added in a quieter voice, "And believe me, I tried."

Leonard shot Sheldon a look and was about to inquire further when Howard and Raj slid into the unoccupied seats at the table. "You'll never guess who we just ran into in the corridor," Howard announced with a grin.

Without turning away from his abnormal friend, Leonard simply replied, "True. Sheldon likes Sarah."

"I thought we all liked her," Raj innocently replied, confused.

"No, I mean he _like_ likes her," Leonard emphasised, now grinning at his friend's obvious displeasure as his face began to twitch. "He said he thinks she's delightful."

"I didn't say that at all," Sheldon immediately defended himself. "I said she _is_ delightful, not that I thought she was."

"What's the difference?" Leonard asked with a snort of humour.

"I can accept that someone is perceived as delightful without sharing in that opinion," Sheldon insisted. "Howard, who did you run into in the corridor?" he tried to shift the conversation.

"Who cares? We just found out that you're a real boy!" He mockingly squealed in delight at the end of his sentence, shaking his fists in front of him childishly.

Sheldon sent him a look while his other two friends smiled. The rest of their lunch break was spent teasing the poor man while he became increasingly uncomfortable and fidgety before finally announcing that he had work to do and left. Once the option of teasing was removed, Leonard told Howard and Raj about the dinner invite to Sarah's on Friday, which boosted the morale further.

Two days later, Leonard received another text with directions to Sarah's home and a wish for a safe car trip. As no one had teased Sheldon in the past two hours (he was counting,) about his supposed infatuation, he was ready and willing to leave when Leonard announced that he was going. They picked up the other two guys and drove the unfamiliar road to Sarah's house, arriving two minutes before the specified time.

Leonard knocked on the front door of the generic townhouse and half a minute later, it opened to reveal a little boy half his height. The boy had brown eyes and white blonde hair that stuck up in all directions, his skin shockingly pale. He was wearing a plain white t and tan cargo pants, looking up at the four men with obvious distrust and distaste.

"May I help you?" he asked flatly, revealing an Australian accent.

"Uh, hi," Leonard replied, feeling oddly unnerved under the stare of the boy who couldn't be ten years old yet. "You must be Sarah's nephew."

"I don't think I _must_ be, but yes, I am," the boy sighed, rolling his eyes, opening the door a little further.

"Who is it, kid?" came a shout from within the house that was undeniably Sarah's.

"I believe they're your friends," the boy said loudly over his shoulder before stepping aside and offering, very unenthusiastically, "Please. Come in."

"Are you being nice to them?" Sarah shouted, smile evident in her voice, while the four guys came in and the little boy shut the door behind them.

"Define nice," the boy muttered. "Please. The kitchen is this way." He gestured with one hand before walking down the hallway.

The guys followed the boy down the hall, glancing at the walls and through doorways on the way. There were several photo frames along the walls depicting the little boy in front of them with two other little boys, a little girl, and a woman. Though she bared no outstanding resemblance with Sarah, they assumed it must be her sister and the mother of the four children. The father was conspicuously absent.

On the way to the kitchen they passed a doorway that lead to what appeared to be a children's lounge room, smaller furniture arranged around a flatscreen television, a bookshelf full of Doctor Seuss and other children's books, various toys piled up in one corner. There was a shut door on the other side of the hall, and what appeared to be a toilet a little further down.

The boys discovered that the kitchen was also the dining room, a large wooden table with eight matching chairs the main feature. Sarah shuffled around on the other side of the table, by the oven and the countertops, wearing a pair of denim jeans and a long pale blue shirt with a picture of Hello Kitty wearing black framed glasses, a small white half apron over the top. She smiled at the boys over her shoulder before returning to her task.

"Hey guys! I'm glad you could all make it!" Wiping her hands on her apron, she untied it and folded it before placing it on the counter. Now that the apron was off, the boys saw that her t-shirt said 'talk nerdy to me' beneath Hello Kitty.

"We're very glad to be here," Leonard assured her with a smile.

"You have a lovely home," Howard began, stepping forward. "Though not as lovely as you."

A purposely loud sigh drew everyone's attention to the boy standing against the wall, away from everyone. Sarah moved to place a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry guys. As I'm sure he didn't introduce himself, this is my eldest nephew, Peter. Peter, this is Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj."

The boy looked up at the four men blandly. "Hello."

The guys all returned the greeting, Raj waving silently. They then had the odd impulse to bow formally. There was just something strange about the kid, about the way that he stared unflinchingly up at them as though he knew several things they didn't.

"My aunt tells me that you all play Halo," Peter eventually broke the awkward silence that had ensued.

"Yeah, we do," Leonard replied with a tentative smile.

"Are you any good at it?" While not outright saying it, the boy somehow seemed to imply that he doubted it.

"Peter!" Sarah reprimanded her nephew, pulling on his shoulder gently. "Please try and be nice. They're my friends, remember?"

The boy spared his aunt a look, turned his steady stare onto the boys once more, then turned to leave. "I'm getting a jumper. Or a _sweater_ for our American guests," he muttered as he left.

Sarah sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry, guys. Pete is a bit... different."

"No, it's okay, he's adorable," Leonard assured her, convincing no one.

Smiling, Sarah clapped her hands together. "Anyway, food's ready, so take a seat while I dish! Oh, but not in this chair," she placed her hands on the back of the chair to the right of the head of the table, "Peter sits here."

Howard, Raj and Leonard shared a look at that, but said nothing. They all seated themselves, Sheldon checking each available seat before taking the head of the table. Leonard sat next to Peter's seat, Howard and Raj on the other side of the table, leaving an empty chair for Sarah between Howard and Sheldon.

While Sarah placed bowls full of steaming fried rice, forks, spoons and chopsticks on the placemats in front of her guests, Peter returned and took his seat, now wearing a black hoodie. Sarah finally placed a tray of condiments in the middle of the table and stepped back.

"Ta-da!" She gestured to the food. "What d'you think?"

"It looks great!" Leonard immediately responded.

"Almost as delectable as you, my dear," Howard leered at Sarah, leaning over the table towards her. She forced a chuckle.

"If you attempt to woo _my aunt_ while I am in the room, we're going to have a problem, mate," Peter threatened Howard, glaring at the man.

"Pete, it's okay," Sarah nervously placated. "He was just kidding, right Howard?"

"Yeah, of course," he shrugged quickly, eager to dissuade the little boy from following through with his threat. There was something about the way that he was glaring that promised bodily harm, and though the boy was half his size, he certainly had a threatening air about him.

"So," Sarah drew the word out as she took her seat across from Peter and turned to Sheldon. "What do you think, Sheldon? Is my fried rice up to standard?"

"I don't know, I haven't tried any yet," he replied, craning his neck to look at the tray in the center of the table and its contents. "Is that low sodium soy sauce?"

"It is," Sarah affirmed, passing the small bottle to Sheldon, along with another larger one. "I even went to the Korean supermarket to get your hot mustard. And it's brown rice, too."

"Thank you," Sheldon smiled at her briefly before pouring his chosen condiments onto his meal.

The meal began in relative silence after the cursory compliments on the cooking were done. The boys were only mildly surprised when Sheldon gave the food his smiling approval now that they were under the impression that he had the hots for Sarah. She was blissfully unaware as she smiled at all her friends and thanked them again for coming.

"So, Peter," Leonard awkwardly and hesitantly drew the attention of the boy onto himself in the form of annoyed look. "Do you go to school?"

"No," the boy replied, then continued eating.

Howard received a look from Leonard. "So, uh, how old are you?" he asked.

"Eight." Another curt and dismissive answer.

"How come you don't go to school?" Leonard queried, frowning in confusion.

Sighing heavily, Peter placed his cutlery down beside his bowl and sent his aunt a look of long suffering. Apparently receiving the unspoken message, Sarah explained, "Pete does his schooling online. He... doesn't get on with teachers."

"And that's using the term lightly," the boy mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear as he went back to his meal.

An awkward silence followed, during which everyone finished their meals. Sarah stood from her seat and announced that she would clean up the mess she'd made while Peter took the boys down into the basement where the games were. The boy obeyed his aunt without so much as a mutter, and lead the four men downstairs where eyes promptly fell out of heads.

"Holy crap," Raj gasped.

"Oh, so you can speak." Peter looked up at the man. "Is there some sort of cultural thing where you're not allowed to speak in front of the lady of the house or something?"

The kid didn't get a response. The four boys, even Sheldon, were all too shocked to say anything. It seemed to them that they'd just stepped into a slice of paradise. The basement was quite large, probably half the length of the house.

Shoved in one corner of the room was an impressive sized desk with two computers arranged atop it, a stack of games placed neatly beside them. In the side compartments of the desk was an impressive collection of Gameboys; the original, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Colour, Advanced, SP, and DS. A Final Fantasy VII Tenth Anniversary edition PSP was given pride of place in the center of the desk. Piles of games surrounded the handhelds.

In another corner was a plain white wardrobe, decorated with coloured paper cut-outs of bugs. Several feet away from the wardrobe was a long blue couch, which faced one of the largest televisions any of the boys had seen, which sat on a large wooden cabinet. A speaker sat on either side of the television, others placed strategically and surreptitiously around the room for optimal surround sound.

Visible through the glass windows on the cabinet doors were almost every game console ever crated. An old Atari, Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii, Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360. They had all their controls and wires placed neatly around them, not a speck of dust to be seen.

On either side of the cabinet were two bookcases. The two on the right were full games, everything from old NES games to new Xbox 360 titles arranged by console. The two bookcases on the other side were filled with various anime DVDs, entire series lined up neatly.

Two more bookcases were against the wall beside the staircase, and these were filled with movies and television series DVDs. Most notably was the top row of one bookcase which held the complete collection of Doctor Who, from the very first episode all the way up to the recently remade series. Underneath the staircase was a single bed covered in Mickey Mouse bedsheets, neatly made up.

Any spare wall was covered in posters, everything from game characters to promotional movie posters. A large, black shag rug covered most of the polished floorboards. Although Sheldon didn't approve of shag rugs in general, this one, as well as the entire room, was impeccably clean.

"It's like Shangri-la," Howard murmured.

"So many games," Raj sighed.

Peter shrugged, moving further into the room. "It's just my aunt's room. Please, sit."

The four dumbstruck boys moved towards the couch, Sheldon a little faster than the others in order to pick out his spot. Oddly enough, he chose the left end of the couch. Even after they seated themselves, (from right to left, Raj, Howard, Leonard, Sheldon,) they continued to gawk around them.

"I've set up the SNES," Peter announced as he stood in front of his aunt's friends. "Your choice between Super Mario Kart or Unirally."

It took a moment for the comment to register, and when it did, Leonard asked, "What's Unirally?"

"It's a racing game, with unicycles," Sarah answered with a grin, appearing at the bottom of the stairs. "One of my favourites when I was little. The graphics are pretty impressive for the SNES, and the music is absolutely brilliant. Only a two player, though, unfortunately."

"I like Mario Kart," Sheldon replied, looking pointedly up the young woman.

Sarah walked around the couch and sat between Sheldon and Leonard, placing a hand on the taller man's knee. Sheldon's eyes widened as they landed on the innocent hand, widening further when he looked up at Sarah's smiling face. The other three guys looked on in evident interest while Peter turned and began to set up the game.

"Have you ever played Unirally before?" she asked. Sheldon shook his head silently. "Would you be willing to play it on my recommendation?"

After a brief moment of silence, Sheldon queried in an unusually quiet voice, "What qualifications do you have to recommend your recommendation?"

Peter sighed dramatically, turning almost all eyes towards him. (Sheldon continued with his wide-eyed stare at Sarah.) He was sending his aunt a look of exasperation. "_Why_ did you not tell them?"

"Because," Sarah glared lightly at her nephew, "maybe I did not _want_ to."

"Tell us what?" Howard asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Nothing!" Sarah forced a grin at the man, finally removing her hand from Sheldon's knee to wave them dismissively in front of her. Sheldon glanced down at his knee, oddly discomforted with the loss of warmth. He placed his own hand over the cooling limb.

"My aunt," Peter loudly began, ignoring the increasingly annoyed look she was sending him, "is a game critic. She gets paid to tell people what games they should play."

"Uhn!" Sarah groaned, placing her head in her hands, slumping dramatically in her seat.

"Are you serious?" Leonard asked the kid incredulously, glancing between him and his aunt. At that little tidbit, all eyes had widened once more.

"Ever heard of Megabyte Ike?" Peter asked, plugging in the SNES controllers.

"Megabyte Ike?" Sheldon finally phased back into the conversation. "I've followed his career since it's beginning in nineteen ninety five. I only purchase games recommended by him."

"'Him' is a her. More specifically," Peter gestured grandly to Sarah, "my aunt _is_ Megabyte Ike."

Sarah groaned into her hands again, slumping further. "Yeah," she drew the word out as she slowly lowered her hands to dangle between her knees. "That's me... Gamer nerd extraordinaire."

"That is so freakin' amazing," Howard gushed, trying to lean around Leonard to get closer to the future Mrs Wolowitz.

"Why didn't you tell us that you're Megabyte Ike?" Leonard asked, grinning. "You're like a celebrity!"

The look on Sarah's face at this point was the epitome of confusion. "You don't think... You don't think I'm weird?"

"Are you kidding?" Howard scoffed. "If anything, it only makes you more attractive. D'you know how rare it is to find a good looking gamer chick?"

She shook her head, still obviously confused. "But... I'm a nerd."

"And we're not?" Leonard replied, gesturing to the other men on the couch.

"If you'll excuse my interruption," Peter spoke up, "I'd like to actually play before my curfew."

Sarah slapped her hands on her thighs before standing up. "Okay! Well! Now that that's out there, let's play Unirally! If, that's okay, Sheldon?"

Sheldon nodded, too flabbergasted by the recent revelation that one of his childhood icons who he had been convinced was a male similar to himself was in fact an attractive Australian woman to reply otherwise. While Peter took the first player remote and set up a game between himself and Raj, the only person not trying to hang off his aunt, Leonard and Howard began to question the young lady.

"So, what made you get into critiquing?" Leonard asked, leaning his chin in his hands and elbows on his knees, the picture of attentiveness.

"I dunno," Sarah shrugged, shifting from foot to foot before sliding back onto the couch between Leonard and Sheldon. "I was always good at games, and I always liked to write. It was the only way I could think to incorporate the two."

"But you're listed as lead tester on a lot of recent games," Howard interupted, trying to lean ever closer and almost falling from the couch. "How'd you get that gig?"

Again Sarah shrugged. "I didn't plan to. See, when I first started out I was just writing about games I liked and posting it on the internet because I could. I guess I got popular enough for people to notice, 'cause one day I got the offer to play an unpublished game." She grinned. "And of course I had to accept. Who doesn't want to play a game before anybody else can?"

"Why did you never specify that you're a female?" Sheldon asked, voice back at normal volume now that there was no physical contact between him and Sarah. "In not one of your posts did you ever reveal your gender."

Sarah turned to him and smiled. "I figured that people would take me more seriously if they thought I was a guy. That's partly why I named myself Ike. And I just enjoy the unique name. _Ike_."

"But I thought that you were a male," Sheldon persisted. "You lied to me."

For a split second, Sarah looked utterly crestfallen. Leonard was about to reprimand his friend when her face lit up and she placed her hand over Sheldon's. The man froze, eyes widening once more and fastening on the woman's face.

"Sheldon, did I ever once, in any post, say that I was a guy?" she asked, smiling.

He actually had to think about it for a moment, a section of his mind worrying about the germs that would inevitably be infecting him through prolonged physical contact with Sarah, another part marvelling at the comfortable temperature that emanated from her hand, and a greater part puzzling over an equation he had been working on earlier that afternoon.

"I suppose not," he eventually conceded, unconsciously flexing his hand underneath hers.

"So, would you be willing to take that as me not lying to you?" Sarah pressed, fingers tightening around his hand.

Sheldon considered pointing out that a lie of omission was still a lie, but his train of thought had temporarily been derailed by the increased pressure on his digits. Once he was back on track, he quickly came to a conclusion. "I suppose," he murmured with a nonchalant shake of his head.

"Brilliant!" She beamed at him, taking his hand in both of hers and shaking it once in an act of finality before releasing it.

As soon as it was free, Sheldon cradled his hand against his chest, reluctant to let the warmth seep out of it. His untouched hand felt suddenly cold, and he pondered the incredulity of it. Meanwhile, Peter had thrashed Raj at the video game, and called on Howard to be his next opponent. The boy won again, and then against the other two men before losing to his aunt. After that, Super Mario Kart was set up, Sarah and Leonard sitting out to let the other four play.

They played a championship round, Peter wining the cup with Raj coming second, Howard fourth, and Sheldon ninth. Sarah let Leonard rotate in while she went upstairs to ready Peter's room for bedtime. After winning another cup, the boy bid goodnight to his aunt's friends at her request before following her upstairs while the boys began another race.

"Oh my god!" Raj gasped as soon as Sarah was out of the room.

"What?" Howard asked, his body tilting as he steered his kart around a corner.

"I can't believe we know Megabyte Ike!"

"I can't believe Megabyte Ike is a woman," Sheldon replied, pressing the accelerate button harder than he needed to, adamant that he not come last.

The conversation petered out as they got into the game, none of them hearing Sarah come down the stairs and stand behind the couch, watching with a smile. In the end, Leonard/Luigi won with Raj/Yoshi in a close second, Howard/Toad equal fourth with Koopa Troopa, and Sheldon/Mario eighth.

"Ah, poor Mario!" Sarah grinned, startling the four men.

After a minute or two of everyone teasing Sheldon, after which Sarah apologetically hugged his arm and he couldn't help but notice that the limb pressed between her breasts, they returned to the video game. Three races later, everyone was ready for the next game, and at Sarah's suggestion, they upgraded to the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Kart.

The rest of the evening was spent pleasantly, no more teasing and no more physical contact for Sheldon. At eleven thirty, when the boys began to make noises about leaving, Sarah stood and announced, "I have something for each of you."

"What?" Leonard asked, grinning for reasons he was unsure of.

Returning the smile, Sarah darted over to her wardrobe and pulled out an open box. Placing it on the floor in front of the guys, she reached her arms in and grinned up at them. "Now, before I give them to you, I want you to know that I want nothing in return. I saw them online and thought of you, and that's all there is to it. Okay?"

The guys all nodded, and Sarah pulled her arms out of the box, holding up a grey t-shirt triumphantly. "Ta-da! This one is for you, Sheldon!"

"Thank you," he awkwardly said, reaching out and taking the shirt gingerly.

The guys leaned over to see as he unfolded the shirt to reveal the front of it. On the chest, in large white print were the words, 'You read my t-shirt.' And, underneath, in slightly smaller writing, 'That's enough social interaction for one day.' Sheldon couldn't stop the smile that tugged one side of his mouth up.

"Raj, this is yours," Sarah continued, handing a black shirt to him.

With a smile of thanks, Raj opened his shirt to see a Boo hiding its face on the front, the same ghost on the back grinning, arms spread wide. He placed it on his lap to send two thumbs up to Sarah, who laughed happily.

"Howard! You build stuff, right?" Sarah asked, somewhat sheepishly.

"Well, if you want to dumb it down completely, sure," Sheldon answered distractedly, fingering one sleeve of his new shirt.

Sarah only grinned and handed the next gift over to the engineer. "Good."

Howard opened the shirt to see a picture of a hammer and nails. Underneath the picture were the words, 'This is not a drill.' "How thoughtful," Howard grinned, turning to Sarah. "If there's anything I can do to repay you..." He trailed off suggestively, raising his eyebrows.

"Just wear the shirt," Sarah replied with a shrug and a smile, oblivious to the pick up. "And last but not least, Leonard!"

"Thank you," Leonard smiled, taking the shirt and opening it. Across the chest was written the words, 'If it weren't for law enforcement and physics, I would be unstoppable!' He chuckled. "It's great, I love it."

Grinning almost inanely, Sarah said, "I just wanted to do something to show you guys how much I appreciate you being my friends. You're all awesome, and I would like to hug each of you if that's okay."

Not surprisingly, Howard leapt to his feet, arms held wide. Sarah simply wrapped her arms around him, smiling. After an unusually long hug that ended in a squeeze, she moved on to Leonard. Raj was a little hesitant, but Sarah said she'd close her eyes if it made him feel better, so he figured he'd go for it. After a brief embrace with the Indian man, Sarah stood resolutely in front of Sheldon.

"Sheldon?" He inclined his head. "May I hug you?" she asked.

He thought about it briefly before replying, "If a hug can be constituted as a gift in return for the t-shirt, than yes. You may hug me."

The guys watched with interested grins as Sarah slowly wrapped her arms around the tall physicist's torso. He didn't return the hug, but he allowed it to linger before Sarah stepped back with an enormous grin on her face. Sheldon repressed a shiver as her warmth left him.

And so, with new shirts in hand and a chorus of smiling goodnights, the boys left Sarah's house and turned for home, each and every one of them thinking of their hugs.


	6. Chapter 6

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

**Wonderland-fae **- _Thanks for your review, and I'm glad you like the story so far. As far as the t-shirts go, I can't remember where I found most of them. I spend far too much time searching funny t-shirts on the internet. But they are cool, aren't they?_

**Jislane35 -** _Thank you again for your review! I'm especially glad you think everyone is in character. I try my hardest._

_As far as Liz Taylor acting as Sarah goes, while I wouldn't have a problem if that was who you imagined, she's just not quite what I had in mind. Close enough, though, so go for your life._

**Jedi of the Sea - **_Thanks for the review. In answer to your question, there's this thing called a 'SNES Multitap', which is plugged into one of the controller ports on the consol and has four ports on its face. Pretty much the only reason to buy one, however, was to play Mario Kart with more than two people. Not many were sold, so you may not have heard of it before. _

_Although, I suppose I should have specified that it was used in the chapter. My bad!_

_Thanks by the basketful to all other reviewers too!_

_And remember..._

_Magic always comes with a price!_

CHAPTER SIX

~ Filler Vignettes ~

When Penny picked Sarah up for a night of dancing with some friends, she cooed and gushed at the young woman. She was wearing smart black dress pants, impressively heeled boots and a snappy blue top that showed much more chest that Penny had ever seen her flaunt before. The top had been a gift that she had made the shy young woman promise to wear. Her mass of hair gently curled around her shoulders, giant silver pendant earrings hanging from her ears to match the thin chain around her neck.

"Oh my gosh! You're so pretty!" Penny cheered as Sarah slid into the passenger seat of her car.

"Sure," she demurred quietly. "You look pretty too." Though Sarah personally would never have been comfortable in such a short, short dress, she thought the pink number suited Penny to a T.

"Aw, thanks! We're meeting Tasha and Hailey at the club," Penny explained as she pulled away from the curb.

"Okay. And, who were they again?" Sarah asked with a sheepish smile. Penny knew so many people that she often found it difficult to keep them all straight in her head.

"You met them at Halloween, they think you're adorable, Tasha offered to have your babies?"

Sarah laughed. A loud, full belly laugh that Penny had yet to hear around the boys. She'd noticed that the Australian was lot more comfortable when there weren't any males present. Which just plain boggled her mind. "Oh yeah. I remember them."

"Don't be surprised if she tries her moves on you again," Penny warned with a grin and a giggle.

It wasn't long before the two women made their way to the club, where they met up with Penny's friends. After the initial hugs and air kisses, the four went inside and immediately headed towards the bar. They all bought a round of drinks and stood around looking pretty while they sipped them.

Of course it wasn't long at all before the four of them were receiving offers of free drinks from other patrons of the club. While Penny, Tasha and Hailey all happily accepted, Sarah adamantly declined any and all offers that came her way.

They danced with each other and strangers on the dance floor, generally having a good time. At some point they all went out to get some air, chatting happily amongst themselves. The boys came up in conversation, Penny giggling with Tasha and Hailey about their nerdiness. Sarah chuckled half-heartedly along with them, shooting nervous glances over her shoulder.

Something was said which neither of Penny's friends could believe, prompting Penny to take Sarah in her car back to the apartments, the other girls following in Hailey's car. Once they reached the apartment building, they climbed the stairs quickly.

Penny knocked on and opened the door to the boy's apartment to see the four of them seated around the coffee table, game controls in hand as they played Halo. The four girls stepped just inside the room, smiling at the scene before them for various reasons.

"Hey guys. My friends and I got tired of dancing, so, we came over to have sex with you," Penny deadpanned.

Sarah made a strange squeaking sound, and Tasha turned to grin at her bright red face. It was no secret amongst them that she was tremendously embarrassed about the subject, and so they teased her mercilessly about it whenever they could. Especially Tasha.

"Now go Raj, jump in the tank!" Leonard shouted at his team-mate, fingers mashing buttons mercilessly. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief when his outcry drew the attention away from her.

"We said no tanks!" Sheldon protested with a frantic tone in his voice.

"There are no rules in hell!" Raj replied brutally, actually on his feet as he concentrated intently on the screen.

"Med pack! I need a med pack!" Howard hollered, actually sounding pained.

"Told ya," Penny smirked at her friends, closing the door behind her as they left the boys to it.

Sarah tentatively asked what exactly they would have done had the boys taken them up on their offer, which only brought on another round of teasing the poor woman. She endured it good naturedly, face burning all the while.

* * *

Penny had inadvertently discovered that apparently Sarah Peters could not get drunk. She had finally been given a bartending shift at the cheesecake factory, and had immediately invited her friend over to practice on.

Five cocktails in and she maintained that she wasn't even buzzed. "Dude, I'm Australian. If there's one thing we can hold better than our food, it's our drink."

"Still, I don't want to give you too much," Penny replied.

"Well, go harangue the boys," Sarah suggested with a little shrug, sipping her newest drink. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"Hey, great idea!" Penny grinned before racing to her door and slipping next door.

While she was gone, Sarah went about tidying the lounge. It was a strange quirk of hers that whenever she drank, while it didn't noticeably intoxicate her, it made her want to clean. She was in the middle of fluffing the couch cushions when Penny returned with the four boys in tow.

"Hey guys!" She greeted them with a smile, receiving the greeting in return. "I haven't seen you all in a while."

"What have you been up to?" Leonard politely asked with a nervous hand gesture.

"Oh, you know, this and that. Mostly keeping busy with my sister's kids, but, you know how family is," she shrugged.

Even though he really didn't, Leonard agreed. Sarah joined the four boys as they congregated around Penny's counter, returning to her drink. Leonard ordered a Tequila Sunrise, which Penny mixed up expertly.

"Okay, here you go, Leonard," she announced unnecessarily, handing the tall glass over. "One Tequila Sunrise!"

"Thank you!" The physicist accepted the drink with a grin. "You know, this drink is a wonderful example of how liquids with different specific gravities interact in a cylindrical container." Seeing the blank look on Penny's face, Leonard lowered his head and repeated, "Thank you."

Choosing to move right along, Penny turned to Raj. "Okay, Raj, what'll it be?"

The Indian leaned over to whisper in Leonard's ear, who broadcasted, "Whatever you recommend."

"Uh," Penny thought about it for a moment, smiling. "How about a Grasshopper? I make a mean Grasshopper."

Raj nodded his head with the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

While Penny grabbed the things she needed to fix the drink, she asked, "Sheldon? What are you gonna have?"

From his perch on one of Penny's barstools, he answered, "I'll have a Diet Coke."

"Okay, can you please order a cocktail? I need to practice mixing drinks," Penny pleaded, pouring the Grasshopper ingredients into a shaker.

"Fine," Sheldon conceded. "I'll have a virgin Cuba Libre."

Sarah smothered her chuckle in her glass, smiling.

"That's um, rum and coke without the rum," Penny deadpanned.

"Yes." Sheldon nodded.

"So coke." Penny screwed the lid onto the shaker and began to shake.

"Yes." Sheldon nodded again. "And would you make it diet?"

With a weary smile, Penny replied, "There's a can in the fridge."

"A Cuba Libre traditionally comes in a tall glass with a lime wedge," Sheldon argued.

"Then swim to Cuba," Penny said, clearly having had enough.

The comment made Sheldon pause, before rising from his seat saying, "Bartenders are supposed to have people skills."

Pouring the mixed drink into a cocktail glass, Penny handed it over to Raj. "Okay! Raj, here you go! Alright, who's next?"

"I'd like to try a Slippery Nipple," Howard announced, edging just a little closer to Penny behind the counter.

"Okay, you're cut off," Penny immediately replied. "Anybody need a refill?"

"I'll have another Midori Splice, please," Sarah replied, rinsing her glass in the sink herself.

But before Penny could begin to argue over her friend's alcohol tolerance again, Raj looked up at her and asked, "Where did my life go, Penny?" Everybody in the room froze, turning their full attention on the usually mute Indian. "One day I'm a carefree bachelor and the next I'm married and driving a mini van to peewee cricket matches in suburban New Deli."

"A-Are you talking to me?" Penny stammered, just as floored as everyone else in the room.

"Is there another Penny here?" Raj asked in reply before jumping back into his rant. "I had such plans. I had dreams. I was going to be the Indira Gandhi of particle astrophysics. But with a penis of course."

"It's amazing," Leonard breathed to the other guys.

"Ever since I was a little boy," Raj continued, swaying a little unsteadily on his seat. "My father wanted me to be a gynaecologist like him. How can I be a gynaecologist I can barely look a woman in the eye! You know what? I'm not going to let my parents control my future any longer. It's time for a showdown."

Standing from the barstool, Raj turned to the empty lounge and called out, "Somebody give me a computer with a webcam!"

"Okay," Penny followed Raj onto the couch, where they sat at opposite ends. Sarah followed the other guys as they crowded behind Penny. "Sweetie, I think that's the Grasshopper talking."

"And it's about to tell my parents that I am not riding an elephant down the isle with Lalita Gupta!" Raj asserted.

"Okay, calm down." Penny pat the man on the shoulder as she explained, "No one can make you get married. Why don't you just meet this girl, see what happens?"

"Haven't you been listening to me? I can not talk to women!" Raj repeated, leaning closer to Penny.

"Uhm, Raj," Leonard began, but was interrupted.

"No no, let's see how long it takes him," Howard said, earning himself a smothered chuckle from Sarah.

"Raj, honey, you say you can't talk to women, but you've been talking to me," Penny said slowly, with a smile.

"And now we'll never know," Sheldon griped.

"You're right." Raj's face lit up. "I-I-I am talking to you! Hello Penny, how are you?" he greeted, shaking her hand.

"I'm fine!" she replied with a grin, amused.

"Hello Sarah!" Raj called up to the smiling young woman. "You're looking very pretty today!"

"Why thank you, Raj," she blushed, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Okay, now I just need to make sure that I have a Lalita before I meet the Grasshopper!" Raj grinned, sipping his drink. "It's a sweet green miracle."

"Okay, if you're gonna drink on this date, just promise me that you won't overdo it," Penny asked.

"Overdo what? Happiness? Freedom? This warm glow inside me that promises everything's going to be hunky dunky?"

"Yeah, that. Why don't you bring her to my restaurant while I'm tending the bar so I can keep an eye on you," Penny offered.

"Okay!" Raj grinned, turning back to his drink.

"Wait a minute, what's the plan here?" Leonard asked, leaning on the couch next to Penny. "Let's say he meets her he likes her, what's he gonna do, stay drunk for the rest of his life?"

"Worked for my parents," Howard said.

"Ohh," Sarah turned to the little man and gave him a brief hug. "Never mind, Howard."

"How much have you had to drink?" he asked her, concocting a plan in his mind.

Sarah shrugged. "Dunno. But I'm not drunk. You just looked like you needed a hug."

"I think I need a hug," Raj announced, standing from the couch, holding his arms out wide.

"Sure thing, Raj!" Sarah went and wrapped her arms around him with a squeeze. "Don't know when the opportunity will arise again."

As soon as the Indian released her, she turned to Leonard and hugged him as well. "Oh, I get one too? Thank you," he stammered.

Then the woman turned to Penny, and they embraced with over exaggerated choruses of, "Aww!"

It wasn't until the boys returned to their apartment later that Sheldon realised he was the only person who hadn't received a hug. It disturbed him that he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

* * *

A frenzied knocking on the door interrupted Leonard and Sheldon's viewing of Star Trek. As he was closer, Leonard got up to answer the door while Sheldon paused the DVD. They barely had time to recognise Sarah standing there in a black shirt with the triforce across her chest before she flung her arms around Leonard's shoulders and hugged him fiercely.

"Oh, hello," Leonard murmured with a smile as he pat the pretty woman on the back.

Sarah gently pushed him away before lightly whacking his arm. Leonard made a sound of pain as he rubbed his arm, completely lost.

"What is wrong with you?" she sighed dramatically before walking around the utterly confused man to head towards Sheldon, sitting quietly in his seat on the couch. "Stand up."

"Excuse me?" Sheldon stared up at the woman, wondering what exactly had brought her all the way over to the apartment. Surely she didn't visit just to brutalise Leonard.

She gestured with her hand. "Up, please. Come on."

Sheldon slowly obeyed, rising to his feet and continuing to stare down at the strange young woman. Then, before he could make any kind of objection, her arms were around his torso. He froze as Sarah pressed against him for a moment before pulling back and smacking him on the arm as well.

"Why would you guys do that?" Sarah asked, shaking her head with another sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Leonard continued to rub his arm as he came to stand at the other end of the couch.

"I saw the video on the net," Sarah explained, turning to face him. "Why were you two fighting?"

"Oh, that." Leonard lowered his head, now knowing what was going on. "That was, it was nothing," he waved a hand dismissively.

Sarah placed her hands on her hips, shifting her focus from Leonard to Sheldon. "It was not nothing. Sheldon, why were you trying to blow up Leonard's head?"

And then Sheldon knew what she was talking about. "He belittled my research," he replied, a childish impulse within him wanting Sarah on his side as soon as possible. Of course, he kind of shot himself in the foot when he added, "And he did something I forbade him to do."

Sighing again, Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while she gestured with the other, deciding to ignore the look that Leonard sent the other man. "Take a seat, please, boys."

Both Sheldon and Leonard silently sat on either end of the couch, looking up at the young woman who remained standing, both curious and expectant. She took a moment to take a deep breath, then turned and sat herself between the boys, taking one of their hands in each of hers, causing both to flinch and stare a little more wide-eyed.

"Okay," she spoke slowly, swiveling her attention from Leonard to Sheldon and back as she continued, "I know that guys will fight with each other when they're mad, but you guys are best friends! You shouldn't let it get to that stage. You're both clever enough to be able to talk out your differences, right?"

"Well," Leonard began, squeezing the incredibly soft hand in his, but was interrupted.

"Uh-uh, rhetorical," Sarah shook her head. "Now, I don't want to impose myself on either of you, but I can't stand seeing fighting like that, especial between friends. So, I'm going to ask that if either of you ever have a disagreement that you think might devolve into anything physical, please come and get me, and let me mediate."

"Mediate?" Sheldon repeated, his voice curiously quiet.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Whenever my sister's kids get in a fight, they always come to me to defuse the matter. And when I was in school, I was a Peer Mediator, so, I like to think that I know what I'm doing. So? Do you promise that next time there might be a fight, you'll let me intervene?"

Leonard and Sheldon exchanged a look, glanced down at their entrapped hands, then looked up at the hopeful Sarah between them. Even if they hadn't already decided to agree, the look on the girl's face would have made them cave.

"We promise," Leonard firmly nodded his head, squeezing Sarah's hand again and receiving a squeeze back. "If we have a disagreement, we'll come right and get you. Right Sheldon?"

"Yes," Sheldon immediately agreed, though he was still watching Sarah's face as it lit up with a beatific smile which surreptitiously tugged at something in his gut. "We promise."

Sighing happily, Sarah bopped each of the boy's hands on her knees before releasing them. "Good. Now that that's out the way, what are we watching?"

For the next hour, the three watched Star Trek happily, Sheldon not even minding that Sarah was sitting right next to him. Her body emanated the same heat he remembered had been pleasant on his hand the first time she had taken it, and each time after that. He was in such a good mood, he even ignored the smug smirk that Leonard shot at him when Sarah tucked her legs up beneath her and leaned a little closer towards the shorter man.

* * *

Sarah sat with Penny and 'Sheldon's cousin Leo' on the couch, smilingly watching something on the Discovery Channel with them. Leonard and Sheldon stood in the kitchen, watching them, both quietly seething.

Leonard was seething at the fact that, not only was 'Leo' sitting between both girls, who were both leaning into him, but he was snuggling pretty closely with Penny. He'd already started to make moves towards the blonde, which aggravated him immensely.

Surprisingly, the reason that Sheldon was seething wasn't because Sarah sat in his spot. Oddly enough, he barely felt a twinge of annoyance that somebody else was sitting in his seat. He supposed that it was because it was _her_, and he tolerated quite a bit where _she_ was involved, for reasons he was yet to uncover. And it didn't hurt that she had asked very sweetly before seating herself with a beaming grin for him.

There were, in fact, two reasons that Sheldon was seething. The first being that he was seething in the first place. Sheldon didn't seethe. Especially not because of feelings, be they other people's feelings or his own. The compound reason for his seething was that he was annoyed, angry even, that Sarah was sitting with 'Leo'. Sitting _closely_ with 'Leo'.

From what he had observed of her since their initial meeting some months ago, Sarah did not particularly care to be physically close to members of the opposite sex. While she had happily hugged each and every member of their little group, almost always initiating the contact, she tended to back away after said hug was executed. The fact that she sat so close to this stranger, hand resting on his knee like she often did with _him_, was severely disturbing.

As Sheldon followed his thought process, he supposed that a partial reason for his annoyance was the fact that Sarah had only ever rested her hand on _his _knee, and no one else's. It had been a sign of her affection specifically for him, and should not be used for anyone else. She had a particular nuance for each of them, he realised belatedly.

Further along his train of thought, Sheldon came to the realisation that he viewed Sarah as _his_ friend. She spoke most with him, played mostly on his team, listened to him whenever he had an interesting fact to share, and always smiled at him, even for actions he was scolded for later. She'd never told him off for anything, and had taken his side of a friendly argument more than once.

She was his friend. _His_. She shouldn't be leaning all over the man he had hired to act as his drug addled cousin Leopold.

"Excuse me," Sarah smiled at Penny and 'Leo', clambering to her feet to join the two boys in the kitchen. Once she was planted firmly in front of them, she asked, "Okay, so who is this guy really?"

"W-What do you mean?" Leonard stammered, unsure where Sarah fit into their little web of confusing as all hell lies.

"I mean I know what detox looks like, and that is not it," she replied, waving a hand behind her in the general direction of the couch. "I also know what using looks like, and it's not that either. So come on, spill it."

After receiving a distracted nod from Sheldon, Leonard told Sarah the entire fiasco, which made her giggle behind her hand more than once. By the end of the tale, she was grinning at the two of them, shaking her head.

"Oh, lying will always, always, _always_ come back to bite you in the butt, guys," she sighed, gently tapping Leonard on the arm. That was his nuance. A gentle tap.

"Sarah," Sheldon spoke up, directing her smiling attention at himself. Where it should be, he idly thought.

"Yes?" She tilted her head to one side. That was her own nuance. Sheldon had yet to discover the purpose of the gesture, or the causes for it. He suspected she wasn't aware that she was doing it.

"You're my friend, right?"

"Of course I am!" She tilted her head to the other side, her smile broadening. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't want you to sit with Toby anymore," he replied with a shake of his head, seeing Leonard's odd look and ignoring it completely.

"Oh, okay. Well, did you want to do something with me instead?" Sarah's beaming smile turned hopeful, and Sheldon missed another minor tug in his gut. Both of them missed the incredulous turned slightly disappointed look on Leonard's face as he offered to drive them to the comic book store.


	7. Chapter 7

_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own The Big Bang Theory, neither am I making any money from the writing of this story. I'm just doing it for poops and giggles._

_Thanks to all my reviewers, especially '__Jisamar'.__ I have no idea what you said, but that somehow just makes it cooler._

_By the way, if anyone has any particular scenes or situations they would like to see Sarah in, just leave it in a review or send a PM and I'll probably work it in. Kinda hit a roadblock at the moment..._

_Pineapple!_

CHAPTER SEVEN

~ Code Milky Green ~

Sheldon had rung both Leonard and Howard as soon as he had discovered that he was sick and alone in the apartment. Apparently Leonard was at work, something to do with dogs, and he'd only been able to reach Howard's mother at his home number. Howard's mobile was off when he tried it, and Raj's house phone had rang out, his mobile going straight to voice mail. He'd declined to leave a message.

That left two more options. He could call Penny, who he knew was at work today, and was the one responsible for his current illness, or he could call Sarah. As soon as the thought of Sarah taking care of him entered his head, he found that he would prefer her than even Leonard. He dialed her mobile number and waited. She always answered her phone at least.

After three rings, Sarah's voice came on the line. "Hello?" She sing-songed the greeting.

"Sarah, I'm sick," Sheldon whined pathetically.

"Oh no! Is there anything I can get you, possum? I'm at the store right now," she offered.

After a moment of processing her sentence, Sheldon repeated, "Possum?"

"It's a term of endearment. Makes me feel better when I'm ill. Do you not like it?" she asked tentatively.

"I didn't say that," Sheldon reassured quickly. As of late, any and all affection from the young woman was very well received and often looked forward to, sparse though it was. He'd yet to reach a conclusion as to why this was.

"Okay then. So, did you want something from the store? Maybe some apple juice? A specific kind of tea?" Sarah suggested with an evident smile in her voice.

"My mother used to make me split-pea soup with little frankfurter slices and homemade croutons," Sheldon not so subtly replied.

"Oh, uh, I don't know how to make split-pea soup, but I can definitely do something with frankfurters and croutons. Would that be okay, possum?"

"Yes." He nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "Please hurry," he added.

"Okay. I'll just pick up your soup things, swing by home and be right over," she assured. "I won't be more than a few minutes, okay? You climb into bed and wait for me. Oh, but you'll have to get up to get the door."

"Okay. Hurry," Sheldon reiterated, then hung up and got back into bed, mourning the loss of the comforter he'd dropped in the hall.

A little over half an hour later, there was a quiet knock at the apartment door. Sheldon got out of bed as quickly as he could to answer it, more than a little relieved when he saw Sarah standing there with the kindest smile he'd ever seen. Which was saying something after having known this particular young woman.

"Hey possum," she greeted, moving inside as soon as Sheldon stepped aside. "You go lay down, okay? You look terrible."

Sheldon didn't comment. He paused a moment to see Sarah setting some plastic bags down on the kitchen counter before gathering up his comforter and ushering him into his room. She fussed over him until he was comfortably tucked in, then told him that she was going to make his soup and would be right back.

A short while later, Sarah came quietly back into his room, a tray in her hands. On the tray was a bowl of steaming soup, a glass of water and a glass of an electrolyte drink. She set the tray down on his desk before helping him sit up and placing the tray across his lap.

"Now, I've brought my evaporator, if you think that'll help?" she asked, absently rubbing Sheldon's upper arm.

He paused to watch her hand shift his pyjama sleeve, not uncomfortable with the physical contact, ill as he was. "Evaporator?" he asked, sipping his soup. It was some sort of potato soup, but at least it had the additions he'd asked for.

"Yeah, it always helps me when I get sick. I'll set it up and if you don't like it I'll put it away. Be right back, possum." She squeezed Sheldon's bicep then shuffled out of his room.

When she came back in, she was carrying an oddly shaped, brown device that Sheldon had never seen before. Sending him a smile, she searched for a power point to plug it in, explaining what it was as she did so.

"See, you fill this up with water, and this bit with eucalyptus oil. The water boils, and steams the oil. It really helps clear your sinuses," she said. "I'll just go get some water."

She left and came back with the kettle, poured the water into the evaporator, clicked it on and left, coming back quickly again. Seating herself beside him, she resumed rubbing Sheldon's arm as he finished his soup and drank both glasses at Sarah's coaxing.

"Now," Sarah took the tray and the dishes, standing from the bed, "did you want me to come in and sit with you, or do you want to be alone?"

"I don't want to be alone," Sheldon shook his head.

"Alright, possum, be right back."

While Sarah was setting the dirty dishes in the sink to clean later, her mobile rang in her pocket. Noting that the caller ID said it was Leonard, she smiled as she answered in a subdued voice, "Hey Leonard!"

"Hey, Sarah, uhm, listen, I'm just calling to warn you that Sheldon is sick," Leonard jabbered quickly.

"Yeah, I know, I'm here taking care of him. You don't mind, do you?"

"Uh, mind? Mind what?"

"That I'm in your apartment. I'll clean any mess that I make, I promise!"

"N-No, that's fine. You're taking care of Sheldon?" Leonard asked incredulously.

"Of course. I'd take care of any of you guys if you were sick. I don't mind," she assured him. "Oh yeah, there's some soup leftover, too, if you wanted some when you get home."

"Oh. Well, thank you, I guess," he slowly replied. "I'll see you later then."

"Sure thing. Buh-bye!" Sarah hung up and slid her phone back in her pocket.

As soon as she entered Sheldon's room again, he demanded, "What took you so long?"

Smiling sheepishly, Sarah sat next to Sheldon and rubbed his arm. "Sorry, possum. Leonard rang. I think he was worried about you."

Sheldon processed the statement, then took a moment to enjoy the stroking on his arm again before reaching over to his bedside table and picking up a small blue jar. "Will you please rub this on my chest?"

"Of course I will," Sarah smiled endearingly at him, taking the jar and holding it in both her hands to warm the contents.

Unceremoniously yanking his shirt and pyjama top up to bare his chest, Sheldon hoped he wasn't infecting Sarah as her face flushed. She rubbed the jar between her hands, averting her eyes as she opened it and dipped her fingers in.

Clearing her throat uncomfortably, Sarah reached forward and began to gently rub her fingers in a circle in the middle of Sheldon's chest, in the little smattering of hairs. She'd barely started when he flinched and made a noise of discomfort.

"No, counter-clockwise or my chest hair mats," he reprimanded her.

"Sorry, possum," Sarah chuckled, changing the direction of her rub. "That better?"

He hummed happily. After a few minutes, Sheldon sighed, "Sing 'Soft Kitty'."

"I will if you teach it to me, but I can't sing very well," Sarah warned, doing her best to ignore the fact that she was rubbing a naked male chest.

Sheldon sung the song to her as well as he could with his blocked nose, only then noting that the evaporator was actually working. Sarah then sung it back to him perfectly. While her voice wasn't angelic or worthy of any other ridiculous adjective, it carried the tune well and had a pleasant quality to it that, in his current state of mind, Sheldon could only describe as 'smokey'.

He was dozing off when Sarah gently pried his clothing from his hands and covered him up, tucking his arms beneath the covers. She stroked his hair for a while, which made him hum contentedly, then quietly left the room to thoroughly wash her hands.

She was just coming out of the bathroom when Leonard slowly peeked his head through the front door. "Oh, hey, Leonard," Sarah greeted with a smile before adding in a stage-whisper, "Sheldon's asleep."

"How the hell did you manage that?" he asked, beyond flabbergasted, coming into the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

Shrugging, Sarah replied, "I made him some soup, rubbed Vaporub on his chest and sang to him. Why, does he not usually fall sleep easily?"

"Something like that... What happened to your hand?" Leonard gasped, stepping towards Sarah when he noticed something was wrong with her hand.

"Huh? Oh." She looked down at her hand, which was covered in a raised, red, splotchy rash. Shrugging, she hid the offending limb behind her back. "Nothing. I'm allergic to Vaporub is all."

"Then why did you touch it?" Leonard asked, reaching out to take her arm and inspect the rash. It covered her hand and curled around her wrist. "This looks pretty bad."

"I'll be fine. It'll go down after a while, I just have to leave it alone," Sarah persuaded, gently taking her arm back and hiding her hand again. "I already washed it."

"If you knew you were allergic, why'd you touch it?" Leonard asked again.

"Sheldon asked me to rub it on his chest. He's sick, and I knew it would help." She shrugged noncommittally.

Leonard looked thoughtfully at the young woman in front of him, who was smiling back. The more he learned of her and her completely selfless personality, compassion and intelligence, the more he thought that perhaps he should try his luck with her.

Any half formed thoughts of asking her out were interrupted, however, when a frantically wailing Sheldon cried out, "Sarah!"

"Oh!" Gasping, she spun on her heel and flew down the hall and into Sheldon's room before Leonard had time to blink. "What's wrong, possum?"

"You left me alone," Sheldon whined plaintively. When he'd woken up alone in his bedroom, he'd had the irrational fear that Sarah had left him all alone in the apartment.

"I'm sorry, honey," Sarah cooed, taking a seat at the headboard of the bed and hauling Sheldon's upper body towards her. With one arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other stroking his arm, she cradled his head against her chest. "I'm right here, it's okay."

Momentarily stunned by the sudden close proximity to another body, Sheldon didn't have time to be disgusted by the contact before he began to enjoy the closeness. Sarah's breast was soft beneath his cheek, her hands warm on his arms. An internal shiver deep in his belly kept him from speaking.

Leonard cleaned the dishes in the sink so Sarah didn't have to, and helped himself to some of the leftover soup. When he cleaned those dishes and Sarah still hadn't resurfaced, he went looking for her. What he found when he peeked into Sheldon's bedroom was something that would remain with him for a very long time.

Sarah had fallen asleep propped up against the headboard of Sheldon's bed, head lolling against her shoulder. That in itself was fine, though still strange. What really got to him was the way a sleeping Sheldon was draped around her. His arms were wrapped around her middle and his head was cushioned on her chest. Her own arms hung loosely around the man's shoulders.

After doing a double-take and taking a moment to look at Sarah's peaceful face in respite, Leonard backed away and closed the door behind him.

"Wow," he breathed with a shake of his head. That was certainly something that he had never expected to see. And would never be able to un-see.

For the next two days while Sheldon was sick, Sarah stayed in the apartment and took care of him, which caused mass confusion amongst their friends. Penny had previously been unaware of Sheldon's atrocious behaviour when he was ill, but after hearing the stories related to her through the boys and what she heard from his bedroom when she visited, she was so very glad that Sarah was there to take the brunt of it.

"Should we really keep sending her in there?" Penny asked on the second afternoon, sitting in the lounge with the other three boys while Sarah flitted around the apartment, carrying out Sheldon's will. Everything from retrieving food and drink from the kitchen to making sure his seat on the couch was untouched.

"She seems to genuinely want to look after him," Leonard replied, bemusedly, a fond smile on his face. "Besides, he's kind of latched onto her. If we take her away, he'd probably just get worse."

As soon as Sheldon was well again, Sarah moved back out of the apartment. At first, Sheldon moped around the house, like a puppy whose master was away. It took him all of one day to start coming up with reasons that Sarah had to come over, and he would constantly text her. For three days and nights, she came at his every beck and call and didn't seem to particularly mind.

On the fourth day, she didn't come. Nor did she respond to any attempts at contact.


End file.
